The Reluctant Gladiators
by Soul of Insanity
Summary: AU. Once a year a class is picked to participate in the Battle Royale. Their goal? Kill their classmates until only one student remains. Based on the book Battle Royale. Rated for violence and language. Please R&R!
1. Prologue

I finally decided to start posting a new story. This idea came to me just 2 days ago, but I really like the idea so I decided to start writing it right away. I'll still be updating my other story, so don't worry about that. But this story is a little different because it won't be humor. It will also be AU, and I borrowed the plot from the greatest book of all time, Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. I recommend to everyone out there.

Ok, I'll put this right up front. This story is R. Got it? Don't like R-rated stuff, don't read it. And it is R for the cursing and the violence. I don't write sex scenes so don't worry about that one. So, if you don't like an abundance of cursing at times or violence and gore, you have been warned, it will be in this story.

Disclaimer-I don't own any characters from Inuyasha or the plot and ideas of Battle Royale. But I sure wish I was that creative to have come up with Battle Royale!

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**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Prologue  
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A man with jet-black hair sat typing on an old wooden desk. His fingers flew across the keyboard as his eyes squinted in concentration. It was going on midnight but he could not go home until he finished his work. Thankfully it was almost done.

He leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms out behind him. He let out a big sigh but abruptly sat back up when the door to his office opened. He turned to see his boss standing in the doorway.

His boss Kazuhiko, the man never figured out his last name, was a big. He was pushing 6 ½ feet, which was tall for a Japanese man and well over 200 pounds, but he had no excess fat. He was all muscle. He towered over almost everyone but then that fit his personality. Kazuhiko also had jet-black hair but it was flecked with specks of gray. His face was rough, in fact Kazuhiko almost never smiled. And his eyes were cold, almost bordering on evil. When Kazuhiko walked into a room you knew it immediately, and if he ever looked at you his eyes would be stuck in your mind forever.

"Have you finished yet Hiroki?" asked Kazuhiko in a cool, calculating voice.

Hiroki nervously gulped and stood up. But he was obviously frightened, his movements were abrupt and when he stood up his chair clattered to the ground.

"Ye-Yes sir," said Hiroki, his voice shaking and his fists clenched so tight his knuckles were turning white.

"Good, good. So who are the lucky candidates this year?" he asked, his face breaking into an evil grin. That was the only time Kazuhiko ever smiled, when someone was getting hurt or he was planning on someone getting hurt.

At the sight of Kazuhiko's smirk something inside of Hiroki snapped. He looked at the computer screen and realized what he was doing, what he was helping Kazuhiko accomplish. Suddenly he hated himself as much as he hated Kazuhiko.

"S-Sir, must we continue this madness? Why must we do this year after year?" asked Hiroki, attempting to keep his voice from cracking but failing miserably. Just the sight of Kazuhiko was enough to break him into a cold sweat. And now he was attempting to stand up to him? He was insane.

"Are you questioning me Hiroki?" asked Kazuhiko coolly.

"No…no sir!" answered Hiroki quickly. "But…"

"Hm? But what?" inquired Kazuhiko, his eyes narrowing at the bumbling employee in front of him. But it did please him to see Hiroki's knees quivering; he liked it when his employees feared him. It gave him a power surge. And the smart ones did fear him; they realized the consequences of not fearing him. But it appeared that Hiroki was getting over his fear. That was too bad for him.

"My…my son. He was picked last year. He died. Must we tear more families apart?" asked Hiroki, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. When he thought of his son, and the fear he must have gone through, his heart broke. And what made it even worse was that Hiroki helped to send him there. His son didn't know that but his wife did. When she realized what Hiroki had done she divorced him. He never told her that he had to or else she would have died as well. And he knew why he didn't tell her. She would have preferred to die than allow her son to be taken from her and die a frightening death. But Hiroki failed to see that until it was too late. And everynight since then he had gone home and drank himself to sleep. But he vowed to finally stand up to Kazuhiko, even though that mostly meant his death. But he no longer cared; death would be better than helping the monster in front of him.

"And what did I tell you about that Hiroki?"

"I don't care!" shouted Hiroki. "I can't stand by any longer and watch innocent kids die!"

"Tell me, if they were innocent why would they raise a weapon against their classmates?"

"You leave them no choice," sobbed Hiroki, "Kill or be killed, those are their only options. What the hell do you expect them to do?" Hiroki slammed his fist down on the desk.

Kazuhiko moved his right hand to the holster hidden under his suit jacket. In his rage and grief Hiroki failed to see that movement.

"Why? Why?" screamed Hiroku again and again.

"I told you before," said Kazuhiko, "the government told us to." And with that said Kazuhiko pulled out his pistol and fired two times into Hiroki's chest.

Hiroki stumbled backwards and tripped over his chair. He flew into his desk and as he slid to the ground he stared at the two holes in his chest in disbelief. When he realized who, and why, had shot him he raised his eyes to meet Kazuhiko's gaze. Kazuhiko stared at his dying employee, no expression in his eyes at all. Hiroki stared at him, hate filling his eyes. "Fuck you Kazuhiko. You'll fucking rot in hell. Fuck...you," he gasped out, blood spilling out of his mouth. Then he shuddered once and was silent.

Kazuhiko put the safety back on his pistol and slid it back into his holster. He walked up to the computer and kicked Hiroki's bodyout of the way. Then through the blood specked monitor he read out loud the words on the screen.

"Shikon High. At last, the new candidates for this years Battle Royale."

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This chapter was really short, but that's why it was the prologue. The next chapters will be much longer, I promise. But next chapter we get to meet the class of Shikon High (I'm sure you know who will be in it).


	2. Taken

Hey guys, thanks for your wonderful reviews. As promised this chapter is a lot longer and you get to meet the characters you all know and love. Also, at the end of this chapter there will be a class list so you know what characters will be present in this story.

Anything in italics is someones thoughts.

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Battle Royale are owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Koushun Takami, respectively.

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**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 1: Taken

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And elderly woman walked briskly down a hallway in Shikon High. She was desperately trying to hold in her tears. The principal had called her to his office earlier.

_Flashback_

Kaede walked cautiously into Principal Myoga's office. He had called her to his office as soon as she had gotten to the school, which was at 7 in the morning. When she heard his voice on the loudspeakers her heart had clenched up.

_Oh no, is he going to fire me? Did I give him a reason to fire me? My students love me, so it can't be that. But why else would he call me to his office this early in the morning. And why did his voice sound sad?_

Myoga beckoned for her to sit down so she slid nervously into the chair sitting in front of his desk. Her hands gripped her thighs in fear; she was waiting for him to say the dreadful words 'you're fired.'

But they never came. Instead Myoga rubbed his temple and slid a sheet of paper across his desk.

"Kaede, I have some terrible news," he said, his voice cracking.

Kaede looked at fear on the paper that was now lying in front of her. She didn't want to look. She was afraid to look. Whatever it was made Myoga want to cry. "What is it Myoga?" she asked fearfully.

"Read the paper," said Myoga. _I can't tell her. I can't say it out loud. If I do I'm afraid I'll break down._

Kaede reached out her hand gingerly and grabbed the lower right corner of the paper. She slid it onto her lap and read the top line: By the Notice of the Government. Kaede sharply looked back up at Myoga. "Myoga, what is this?"

"I can't say," said Myoga softly.

Kaede took a deep breath and read the paper.

September 23, 2004

By the Notice of the Government

**School Name:** Shikon High

**Teacher:** Ms. Kaede Akamatsu

Your class has been selected to participate in this years

Battle Royale. A bus will come at 9:30 this morning to

pick up the students. Have them ready or suffer dire

consequences. All students must be present or you, and

your whole class, will be executed on the spot.

Sincerely;

The Japanese Government

Kaede looked back up, tears sparkling in her eyes. "Is this for real Myoga? Are they serious? They are going to take my kids away?"

Myoga deeply sighed and placed a hand against his forehead. "I'm afraid so Kaede. It came this morning. I don't know what to say to you."

At this Kaede grew angry. "What do you mean you don't know what to say to me? I'm not the one whose life is about to be destroyed. What do you expect to say to my students? What am I suppose to say to them? 'Good morning class. Guess what? You are going to the Battle Royale. Hope you're prepared to die?' Is that what I'm suppose to say? Dammit, they're only 14! They are only in 9th grade, why the hell were they picked?"

"Kaede, you know as well as I do that every year a 9th grade class is picked," said Myoga calmly. Too calmly for Kaede's taste.

Kaede abruptly stood up and grabbed the closest thing to her, which happened to be a stapler, and threw it as hard as she could into a wall. "They can't do this! They can't continue to have students kill each other! It's all wrong," she sobbed.

Myoga stood up and walked around his desk until he was in front of Kaede. He gently drew her to him and held onto her as she cried on his shoulder. "I know," he soothed, "but the government is corrupt. And there is no group strong enough to put a stop to it. I don't know what we can do."

"I can't let my class be taken," said Kaede, withdrawing from Myoga. "They are not going to die a pointless death."

"Kaede, you know you can't stop them. You read the notice, if you resist you will also die."

"I don't care!" shouted Kaede. "I'm not going to stand by and watch my students be taken away to kill each other! I can't betray them like that!"

Myoga grabbed Kaede's shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Kaede, you know you cannot do that. You have a family right?" Kaede nodded. "If you resist they will kill your family. The last teacher who resisted was taken and forced to watch her family get shot in front of her. They won't just kill you. They will torture you before you die. No matter what you do your students will be taken. It truly is hopeless. But no one can stop the government."

Kaede's shoulders sagged. She knew everything Myoga said was true. She pictured her 8 year old son and knew that she couldn't be the cause of his death if she resisted. When she knew that she would hand her class over peacefully she hated every part of herself. _I'm no better than the people forcing these kids to kill each other. I'm going to let my class be taken from me. I'm going to betray every single one of them._

Kaede straightened back up and glanced at the clock. It was 9:00. Class was suppose to start right now. "I have to go to class now," she said softly, turning on her heel and leaving the office before Myoga could say anything else.

_End Flashback_

Kaede was now in the hallway in front of her classroom. She leaned against the wall and looked at the notice again. She would have preferred it if she had gotten fired. That would have been a 100 times better than this. As she read the notice again tears formed at the corners of her eyes. She sniffed them back and stuffed the notice in her purse. She would not terrify her class by walking into the classroom crying. In fact she wouldn't even tell them about the Battle Royale. Secretly she knew that she wouldn't be able to, it would be too hard, but the excuse she made was that she would let her students have as much time as possible to live their lives freely and without fear. Kaede plastered a smile on her face and walked into her classroom.

When the door opened the conversations ceased. One student, Miroku Sugimura, stood up and bowed down.

"So glad you could join us on this fine, fine day Ms. Kaede," he said jokingly. Miroku had black hair that was pulled back into a tiny ponytail at the base of his neck, eyes that were always full of laughter, and a mouth that seemed to be turned up in a perpetual grin. He wore what all the boys wore in his class: a pair of gray slacks, a white, short sleeve button down shirt, and a dark blue tie. He was definitely the jokester of the class. He could find a way to make fun of anything. And he was the kind of person that no one could dislike. Even if someone got angry with him a minute later they liked him again.

"Since you're late does this mean we can give you a detention?" asked Kouga Sasagawa with a smile on his face. Kouga had long black hair that was pulled into a high ponytail. He was a star soccer player and a sprinter on the track team. No one was ever able to beat him when it came to running.

"Or how about each of us can get one free tardy to make up for yours?" suggested Inuyasha Shimizu. Inuyasha had long black hair that went down to his waist. He was best friends with Miroku and when the two of them got together they were always bound to get in trouble. Inuyasha was the other star of the soccer team. He and Kouga made an unbeatable duo and when they worked together they could almost always score on the opposing team.

"Here, here!" shouted Miroku, holding up one of Inuyasha's arms in victory, "my buddy Inuyasha wins for coming up with the best idea for how to deal with the catastrophe that has befallen us this morning."

Inuyasha raised his other arm and took in the applause with a few bows.

Kaede smiled at her class. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry. I promise to never be late again." At these words Kaede choked up. After this morning she would never see her class again.

Seeing Kaede in distress made all the students sit back down and stare at their teacher in confusion.

"Ms. Kaede, what is wrong?" asked Kagome Higurashi softly. Kagome was a star student and was liked by just about everyone in the class. She was willing to help anyone with their schoolwork and went out of her way to help Kaede with anything that needed done. She had wavy black hair that fell halfway down her back. She wore the traditional Japanese school uniform, a sailor outfit. Her skirt was a soft, muted gray and her shirt was white. The bow around her neck was a dark blue. Every girl in the class wore an outfit identical to Kagome's. Kagome glanced at her best friend, Sango Hiraikotsu, who stared back at her worriedly.

Sango had straight black hair that when down fell to her waist. But today she had it tied back in a high ponytail. Sango was a very athletic girl; she played soccer, basketball, and softball, and was also a runner on the track team. She had a very confident personality but currently she was chewing the end of her eraser nervously and waited for Kaede's response.

"Hm? Oh I'm sorry. I just had a tough morning," replied Kaede. "But I do have a surprise trip for you guys."

"Sweet!" shouted Shippo Inada, jumping out of his seat. He sat back down at the odd looks he received from his classmates. Shippo was an odd student. He was short for a guy, only reaching 5 feet, but the odd thing about him was the fact that he dyed his hair a bright orange. His hair went a little past his shoulders but he always kept it held back in a ponytail. And he also got a kick out of tying a little blue bow in it. Shippo grinned sheepishly. "What?" he said, "I just like going on field trips."

"Or it's just because you're a crappy student," remarked Sesshoumaru Taisho. Sesshoumaru was tall; he was pushing 6 ½ feet. He had pure white hair that went past his waist and it was a constant debate in the class, especially amongst the girls, of whether his hair was naturally white or he dyed it. Sesshoumaru never offered an answer so it was still up in the air. He was also the star basketball player, which would make sense given his size. His teammates loved him but he tended to keep to himself. He had few friends but his best friend made people turn their heads. It was Rin Kitano, a petite girl who was cheerful and outgoing. She was the exact opposite of Sesshoumaru, always the center of attention and willing to help anyone. But for as long as anybody could remember she and Sesshoumaru were always together. They definitely weren't going out, they were just inseparable best friends.

Rin, who always sat behind Sesshoumaru, smacked the back of his head. "Be nice," she scolded. She turned to Shippo and gave him a bright smile. "Sorry about my idiot friend here. Just ignore everything he says."

Sesshoumaru turned in his seat and gave Rin a withering glare.

Rin responded by patting his head like a dog. "There, there boy, don't get upset with me. You know I only speak the truth."

Sesshoumaru, realizing that it wasn't worth arguing with Rin (he always lost) turned back to the front and returned his expression to the impassive one it was before Shippo's comment.

"So where are we going Ms. Kaede?" asked Kagome.

"Oh, to a museum that specializes in ancient Japanese artifacts. Since we are currently studying the Feudal Age I thought it would be a treat," Kaede said, trying to keep her voice calm. _I'm lying to them. The last memory they'll have of me is me lying to them._

"Oh," said Miroku glumly. "I guess it's better than staying in school. But I was hoping it would have been a little more exciting."

"You just want to go to a water park," remarked Inuyasha. He knew his friend too well. Because in addition to being a jokester Miroku was also a player.

"Well what's wrong with that? Don't you want to see all the hot girls in their bathing suits?" wondered Miroku.

"You perve. Just stop talking."

Miroku shrugged his shoulders and settled back in his chair, a lopsided grin on his face.

"So Ms. Kaede, when are we going?" asked Sango.

Kaede glanced at the wall clock which read 9:20. "The bus is coming at 9:30 so let's head outside now."

In the class's excitement of leaving the school for the day they didn't begin to wonder how strange it all was. How they didn't need permission slips to leave the school. How Kaede seemed to be drenched in sadness. How when they filed onto the bus a driver with sad eyes stared at them. And how as they drove off a black sedan followed them, the man in the passenger seat loading bullets into a pistol.

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Kouga looked out the window at the passing scenery. He looked at his watch next and grew worried. They had been driving for over an hour. He could have sworn that they should have arrived at the museum a good half hour before now. He scanned the rest of the bus and saw some of the other students looking worried as well. He turned to his friends sitting behind him, Hakkaku Numai and Ginta Kawada.

Hakkaku and Ginta were best friends with Kouga. Actually, they were more like Kouga's followers. And both had their own styles. Hakkaku had dyed the sides of his hair a light blue, leaving the top of his hair his natural black. It gave the appearance of a weird mohawk. While Hakkaka hair gave the appearance of a mohawk Ginta had a full-fledged one. He had dyed his hair blonde and spiked it up into a mohawk. He had 6 thick spikes running along the middle of his head. Both of them played soccer with Kouga, but they were in the reserves.

"Are you guys noticing anything strange about this trip?" asked Kouga.

Hakkaku met his friend's eyes and Kouga was surprised to see that his friend looked frightened. "Something isn't right Kouga. We are driving out of Tokyo and heading towards the ocean. I don't know where we are going but it definitely isn't a museum."

Kouga punched the back of his seat. "Shit," he cursed under his breath.

Ayame Seto, a cute girl with red hair that was pulled into two high pigtails and stunning green eyes, turned in her seat when she heard Kouga curse.

"Kouga?" she asked hesitantly, "what's wrong?"

Kouga looked at the frightened girl in front of him. "I'm not sure Ayame. But I am about to find out."

When Kouga stood up Kaede immediately turned around. "Kouga, sit down please. It's not safe to stand up."

"Ms. Kaede, what's wrong? Where are you taking us?" he asked while sitting down.

Kaede didn't respond. Instead tears formed in her eyes and silently streamed down her face. Now the class went into an uproar.

"What's wrong? Why is Ms. Kaede crying?" asked Kikyo Matsui, a quiet girl who had half of her long, black hair pulled back.

"Why are we going towards the ocean?" wondered Kagura Utsumi, a tough girl with shocking red eyes.

Inuyasha turned in his seat to look at Kagome and Sango. Their eyes were filled with terror.

"Inuyasha? Do you know what's going on?" asked Kagome, clutching Sango's hand in fear.

"I don't know, but I'm not just gonna sit here any longer," he growled. He stood up and beckoned for Miroku and Kouga to follow him. "Come on, let's go stop the bus."

Before Miroku and Kouga could even stand up the bus slowed down and pulled off to the side of the road. As soon as it stopped the door opened and a man wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt and sporting slicked back hair walked onto the bus. The sight of him made everyone go silent in fear. It wasn't his clothes, his hair, or even his cold eyes that frightened them. It was the fact that he was holding an assault rifle and he currently had it pointing at the students.

"What the fuck is going on here?" demanded Inuyasha.

"How about you be a good boy and sit down and shut up. Because you know if you don't I will have no problem pulling this trigger and splattering your brains on that pretty girl sitting behind you," answered the man, swinging the rifle until it was pointing at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha held up his hands and slowly slid back into this seat. He heard Kagome give a huge sigh of relief when he obeyed without any of his usual snide remarks.

Once Inuyasha was sitting back down the man beckoned to someone outside and they watched as another man walked onto the bus. This man looked to be in his mid 40s and had gray-specked hair. He was wearing tan dress pants and a dark blue golf shirt. Even though he carried no visible weapons everyone could tell right away that he was the boss. It was a combination of the way the other man visibly tensed up when around him and the way his eyes displayed zero emotion as they slowly sweeped the bus, taking in the faces of the scared 9th graders. He nodded once to the man holding the rifle and he immediately grabbed Kaede by her arm and roughly threw her against him.

At the sight of their teacher being physically harmed the class broke free of their terror.

"Let her go you bastard!" shouted Kouga, jumping up to Kaede's defense.

Miroku, Inuyasha, and Sesshoumaru also jumped up and joined Kouga in the defense of their teacher.

The boss cackled and grabbed Kaede from the other man. He grabbed her upper arm and brought the frightened teacher in front of him. Then reaching his other hand behind him he drew out a 7 inch hunting knife. He brought the blade to Kaede's throat and pressed it against her skin.

"Now you boys will sit back down or I will slit your teachers throat right in front of you."

"Listen to him guys. I'll be fine. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," sobbed Kaede.

The boys looked at Kaede in alarm, their teacher was shaking against the man holding her but she wasn't crying because she was scared. It looked like she was crying for them. Too dumbstruck to do anything else the boys sat back down.

"What the hell do you plan on doing to us?"

Everyone looked towards the back seat where the bored voice came from. No one was surprised when they saw it was Naraku Onigumo. No one understood Naraku, he always sat in the back of the classroom and he almost never talked. And his expression never changed, he always looked bored. No matter what might happen he never displayed any emotion. Kagura had once tried to talk to him. No one knew what happened between them but Kagura was now terrified of Naraku and she never spoke of what happened. Her best friend, Kanna Yahagi, wasn't even able to get anything out of her.

"What am I going to do you?" asked the man holding Kaede. "I'm not going to do anything to you."

Everyone turned to look at the man, confusion plainly etched on their faces. The man laughed and before continuing he threw Kaede out of the bus and signaled for the other man to follow. He then handed the bus driver an oxygen mask, which confused and terrified the students. Was he going to poison them?

The man pulled out of his pocket a small metal can.

"Now I need you guys to go to sleep for a little while. When you wake up all of your questions will be answered."

"Tell us what you mean by you won't do anything to us!" shouted Kouga.

"I won't do anything to you," restated the man, "the question is what will you guys do to each other." He pushed a button on the can and gently rolled it down the aisle of the bus. The students all lifted their legs up, no one wanted the little metal can to touch them. As the sound of escaping gas filled the bus the man turned to leave the bus. The next words out of his mouth froze everyone's hearts. "Your class has been selected for this years Battle Royale." Then he swiftly left the bus, the door slamming behind him.

"Oh fuck," groaned Inuyasha before he, and everyone else, drifted off to sleep.

The bus started moving again, merging in with the surrounding traffic. As it traveled silently along the road no other drivers realized what it actually was. A coffin, bringing an innocent 9th grade class to its death.

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Ms. Kaede Akamatsu's 9th grade class:

1) Hojo Chigusa

2) Kagome Higurashi

3) Sango Hiraikotsu

4) Shippo Inada

5) Yuka Kanai

6) Ginta Kawada

7) Rin Kitano

8) Hiten Kotohiki

9) Manten Kotohiki

10) Mayu Kuronaga

11) Kikyo Matsui

12) Jaken Mimura

13) Ayumi Nanahara

14) Hakkaku Numai

15) Yura Oda

16) Midoriko Ogawa

17) Eri Oki

18) Naraku Onigumo

19) Nazuna Sakaki

20) Kouga Sasagawa

21) Ayame Seto

22) Inuyasha Shimizu

23) Miroku Sugimura

24) Sesshoumaru Taisho

25) Kagura Utsumi

26) Kanna Yahagi

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I got all of my last names (except the ones that are obviously from Inuyasha) from Battle Royale. I owe a lot to that book. And also in this story Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru are not related. If they were they wouldn't be in the same grade and I couldn't have that. And if there any characters that you guys don't know who they are in the anime I will be glad to fill you in. But anyways, next chapter the class will wake up and the rules of the Battle Royale will be given. No death next chapter, I decided to be nice and give 2 chapters of no death because this story will soon be full of it. Please review!

Review Responses:

**RavensFollower:** Yea, I suppose that this story is unlike everything I've written before. But I'm going to try my hand at a story other than humor. And I believer that this is as far from as you can get! Well, thanks for trying out this story!

**Mewie:** Yea! Another fellow BR lover! It seems that most people have never heard of this book. But I have yet to see the movie. Is it worth buying it?

**Sakaki-chan:** Yes, BR is only the greatest book ever written.

**CrAzY FoR VaMpIrEs:** Yea! Other sick and twisted people who like this plot! Great to have you onboard!

**Moonglow gal:** Hehe, nice use of adjectives. But they all describe this story pretty well. Thanks for the review!


	3. Doomed

Hey all, or at least to the few people who read this story. It's weird, it seems like no one likes to read about death. Weird. : ) But as promised, here is the last chapter without death. Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Don't own Inuyasha or Battle Royale

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**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 2: Doomed

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Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes and was surprised to see himself sitting in a chair. He took in his surroundings and saw that he was in an office with drab colored walls. There was one window that looked outside into surrounding woods. He could smell the ocean so he assumed that since there was no sand and trees didn't tend to grow in the sand he was on one of the islands that surrounded the mainland of Japan. The office he was in was large, but once 26 students were put into it it grew a little cramped. The office was empty except for his classmates who were all sitting chairs that were set up in rows. In the front there was large oval desk and a massive leather chair. The chair was facing the wall so Inuyasha couldn't tell if there was someone in it or not.

Inuyasha felt something scratching his neck so he lifted his hands up to scratch it. He was surprised to touch metal. He splayed out his fingers and realized it was a collar. Panic welled up inside of him when he remembered the bus trip. His throat clenched up when he remembered the cold man saying that his class was selected for the Battle Royale.

"Psst. Inuyasha. You there?" came a voice from Inuyasha's left. Inuyasha jumped in fear but calmed down when he realized that it was only Miroku.

"You damn idiot. Don't scare me like that!" said Inuyasha angrily.

Miroku shrugged his shoulders but he was pleased to see that his friend was unharmed. Before they could talk further the chair swiveled around and they saw the man from earlier sitting in it. They immediately froze up in fear.

"Good. I see everyone has finally awakened. And I'm guessing that everyone wants to know who I am. The name's Kazuhiko. That's all you need to know. I have conducted the Battle Royale for the past five years. So don't try anything stupid around me. No student has ever succeeded in harming me," he said. "Now I will start orienting you to what is about to happen." The whole time Kazuhiko spoke his smirk never left his face. He loved seeing the students look on in fear. "As I previously told you your class was selected for this year's Battle Royale."

"Why us? Why was our class picked?" asked Kouga in a surprisingly calm voice. He wasn't going to give the bastard Kazuhiko the pleasure of hearing his voice quiver.

"The class that is picked is completely random," replied Kazuhiko.

"Why does there have to be a Battle Royale?" asked Kagome softly. Softly because she almost didn't want to know the answer. She was afraid that the answer wouldn't make sense and that it would shed no light on the reason a class of 9th graders had to die every year.

Kazuhiko face the girl. "Why? Why is there a Battle Royale? The answer is simple. The government wants to study what happens when a group of people who used to be friends are placed in dire circumstances. They want to study how people react to what is given to them. They want to study how minds under stress and fear act."

"What? That's the reason behind this senseless bloodshed? We are test subjects? You kill a class of students to study how the mind works?" shouted Kagome.

"It is only senseless to those with lesser minds. The government knows what it is doing. It is not our place to question what the government does. To question it would cause you to die."

"Like hell I'm not going to question it. I'm going to die anyways. The government has already killed me," spat out Kagome.

"But you're wrong," said Kazuhiko.

Kagome stared at him, rage clouding her eyes.

"The government will not kill anyone in this room." Kazuhiko stopped talking to Kagome only and addressed the whole room. "Look around you. These people sitting around you, your fellow classmates, are who are going to kill you. The person who ate lunch with you yesterday could be the one who kills you today."

At these words many of the students looked suspiciously at one another.

Kazuhiko's smirk grew eviler. "Battle Royale. A fight to the death. A fight until only one remains. This is what you guys will be doing."

Kazuhiko walked to the chalkboard and quickly drew a rough sketch of a map. "You are on an island. It has an area of about 16 sq. miles. Everyone who use to live on it have been evacuated. We are the only ones on the island. And only one of you will leave this island alive." Kazuhiko drew some squares on the map to mark the buildings. "There are many buildings on this island. We are located in the law office in the approximate center of the island. This will be where I'll be monitoring your progress."

Kazuhiko divided the map into 64 squares. "The map that will be provided for each of you will be divided in this way. Your map will mark the terrain as well. But the most important feature will be the grid. Since the purpose of the Battle Royale is to kill you cannot stay in the same place. So every six hours, at 6 and 12 in the morning and evening, I will make an announcement that will be heard all over the island. I will relay to you the areas of the island that will be off limits. Every hour one more area will become off limits. Dead zones, as I like to call them. It will be your responsibility to be out of those areas at the appointed time. If you fail your collars will activate. Each collar has a bomb in it and it will explode."

Everyone's hands went up to their necks and gasped when they felt the collar encircling it. Rin and Shippo started tugging at it.

"And if you try to take it off they will also explode," added Kazuhiko.

Rin and Shippo's eyes widened and their hands dropped to their laps.

Kazuhiko grinned triumphantly. "Now you will also not be going out there weaponless. To make the game exciting weapons will be provided." At a slight nod to the open door three men came in carrying black duffel bags. They dropped them on the ground and immediately grabbed the rifles that were hanging over their shoulders and pointed them at the students.

"In these bags you will find a random weapon along with a map, compass, watch, flashlight, water, and food. That is all that will be provided. When you leave I will hand you a random bag. No one will know what weapon you carry so no one will know who the most dangerous is."

"Once you leave this building you can do what you please. You can head out on your own or wait for your friends. But since we need you guys to kill there will be rules. The Battle Royale lasts for two days. If more than one person is left at the end of the second day all the collars will go off. And if in the next two days there is ever a span of six hours where no one dies the collars will again explode. So it really is in your best interest to hunt each other down and kill."

Miroku clenched his fists. There was no way in hell he would ever murder one of his classmates. He was sure everyone else felt the same way. After all, most of them knew each other since first grade. How could that bastard Kazuhiko actually expect them to raise a weapon against their childhood friends? He was insane, the whole Japanese government was insane to think this madness would ever work.

Kazuhiko seemed to know exactly what Miroku was thinking. "Now I'm sure many of you are thinking that no one will kill each other. After all, you were all friends yesterday, correct? Well, everyone who thinks that is wrong. There has been a Battle Royale for the past 15 years. And every year there has been a winner. There has never been a year where the class binded together and all died together. It doesn't work that way. The very essence of the human nature is survival. Humans will do anything to survive, even kill a person they were friends with yesterday. Humans are also selfish creatures. Very few are actually willing to risk their life to save another. And under stress and fear your mind will break. You will come to suspect even your best friend of betraying you. In circumstances such as these you will be surprised what you, and your classmates, are capable of. So remember, even if you are unwilling to kill there are the students who will. In this very group there are murderers."

"Now we are going to do a little exercise. I would like everyone to stand in a circle. And if you try anything one of my men will have no problem killing you."

Everyone silently did as Kazuhiko said. As they made a circle it was apparent where some alliances would form. Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and Kagome immediately joined together. There was no question that they would seek out each other out on the island. Kouga, Hakkaku, and Ginta did the same. And Rin and Sesshoumaru were practically glued to each other. Rin was shaking like a leaf but Sesshoumaru was stiff, he was obviously being strong for his friend.

Kazuhiko walked to the center of the circle. "Now repeat after me: I will kill." When no one said anything Kazuhiko pulled out his pistol. "If you don't say it I will shoot you."

Sango thought she could have resisted. She wasn't going to say those dreadful words. But when Kazuhiko swung his pistol until it rested on her she changed. Looking into a barrel of a gun finally made it real for her. She realized that at any moment she could die. As she joined her classmates in the mindless chant she was silently screaming. Kazuhiko was right. No one wanted to die. When standing on death's door you would be willing to do almost anything. _But I won't kill anyone, _swore Sango. _That bastard Kazuhiko will never get the pleasure of seeing me kill someone._

As the class chanted 'I will kill' Kazuhiko's face widened into a grin. It was enough to make everyone's blood run cold. They realized that he enjoyed seeing them frightened. That he would put a bullet in their brain with pleasure. "Ok, enough of that. Now chant: 'Or I will die.'"

This time the class started chanting without a second's pause. This was Kazuhiko's favorite part of the orientation. He was able to witness first hand the changing of a class of students. He was able to see eyes harden as everyone realized what he spoke of was true: no one wanted to die.

As Kagome followed in the mindless chant she let her eyes wander throughout the circle of her classmates. She was frightened to see some people's faces change right before her. They went from being scared to being filled with resolve. _Fight it!_ _Don't give in to the hate! We don't want to kill each other!' _she silently screamed. But at that point Kagome already realized it was too late. She knew the game was real. Her class was to be sent outside with weapons and told to kill each other. And the frightening thing was that many of her classmates would be participating.

"Enough. Sit back down," ordered Kazuhiko when he knew that the message had gotten through to everyone. The students quietly filed back to their seats. Kazuhiko went back to the front of the room.

"Now for the final pieces of information. First, some of you may be wondering how your parents let this happen. They had no choice. By this point they would have been notified of where their children are. And if they attacked the men who told them then they will be dead."

At the revealing of this information there were several audible gasps. Sango closed her eyes tight and silently willed the tears to go away. Her father hated the government. She was almost positive that when he was told his daughter was taken away for a government experiment he would attack whoever the messenger was. She only prayed that he withheld this time. If she died, as she most certainly would, that would be ok, but she didn't want her family harmed. She opened her eyes when she realized that Kazuhiko was speaking again.

"Second, once everyone is out of this builiding it will become a dead zone. So if you're thinking of coming in to kill me you better rethink your plan. Because if you come back you will be without a head."

"Finally, you will be leaving the building one at a time in alphabetical order. One person will be released every three minutes. And if you ever wonder how many people are left in the game I will inform you during my announcements. I will go through the list of the students who died in the previous six hours. And remember, if at any time there is no one on that list all the collars will activate."

Kazuhiko walked to the desk that was in the front of the room. He picked up a sheet of paper that everyone assumed was the class list.

"My one piece of advice for everyone: trust no one. Trust will get you killed. Now we will be starting at a random place on the class list. The starting person was picked earlier."

Kazuhiko looked down at the list. "And the first person to leave is…"

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Oops, seems I forgot to fill in who the first is to leave. Sorry about that! And if anyone is interested I made a map of the island to help me out in this story. So if anyone would like me to send them a copy I will, you know in case you want to know what areas get turned into dead zones. Just tell me in your review. Well the next chapter should be ready in a few days so you won't have long to wait. Please review!

Review Responses:

**Crazy for vampire: **It's fun being sick and twisted! We are the few who can enjoy stories like these!

**Chaoticxsky:** Hehe, sadly that won't happen. And if they did refuse to fight then they would all by exploding collars.

**Moonglow gal: **Ginta and Hakkaku are Kouga's two buddies in the anime. They tend to call Kagome 'sister.' Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi are Kagome's 3 friends from school, they're the ones who are always trying to hook Kag up with Hojo. And I've got my layering of pads, so when you hurt me (which you most likely will) I won't get hurt. : )


	4. Threatened

Sorry about taking so long to get this chapter up. I had it written fast but I was never able to get around to typing it. So I'm sorry for the delay. Well, the game begins this chapter so I hope you enjoy it you bloodthirsty animals! : ) (guess I can't really say anything since I'm the one actually writing it!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Battle Royale.

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**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 3: Threatened

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**September 23, 2004; 6:00 PM**

**26 Students Remain**

"…Sesshoumaru Taisho."

Everyone watched as Sesshoumaru gracefully rose to his feet. As he silently walked to the front of the room Rin gazed at him fearfully. When he reached her he gently squeezed her shoulder. At this slight movement he suddenly had three rifles pointed at him. Rin, who was previously smiling gratefully at her friend, was now squeezing her eyes tight. She was waiting for the gunshots. Her best friend would die all because she was too scared to conceal her fear from him. When no gunshot came she tentatively opened one eye.

Sesshoumaru had not moved at inch. His hand was back to his side but other than that he hadn't moved.

"When I call your name you will come directly to the front of the room. The next person who touches another will be shot," said Kazuhiko coldly.

Sesshoumaru clenched his fists in anger and finished his long trek to the front. When Kazuhiko handed him his bag he grabbed it and then stood still.

It was a silent battle of wills. Sesshoumaru and Kazuhiko stood at eye level. Sesshoumaru was the only one who was as tall as Kazuhiko. As the class watched breathless the two giants stood still.

Rin gripped the sides of her chair. _Please Sesshoumaru, just leave the classroom. Don't do this. Don't stand there and try to threaten Kazuhiko. I'll be fine, but if you get shot now I won't be. I can't do this alone Sesshoumaru. I need you by my side. Please, leave. Just leave._

Sesshoumaru stood there, his eyes full of hate for the man standing in front of him. He was comforting his best friend. All he had done was place a hand on Rin's shoulder. And this bastard threatened to kill him. The bastard threatened to blow his body apart right in front of Rin. Sesshoumaru wasn't scared for his own life; all he wanted to do was protect Rin from as much as he was able to. And that included her watched him die. As he continued his silent battle against Kazuhiko he felt something poke him in the stomach. He looked down to see a pistol pressed to his midsection. He looked back up and was greeted by Kazuhiko's smirk.

"You may want to get a move on it since your three minutes are wearing thin," said Kazuhiko.

Sesshoumaru bit his tongue to keep from saying something that would give Kazuhiko a reason to shoot him. He had to stay alive for Rin. He would not let his best friend go through this terror alone. His eyes flashed with hate once more and then he walked out the door.

Once Sesshoumaru's three minutes were up Kazuhiko called the next name.

"Kagura Utsumi."

Kagura left without trouble. The next two students, Kanna Yahagi and Hojo Chigusa, left silently as well.

"Kagome Higurashi."

_This is it_, thought Kagome, _at any time from here on out I could die._ Kagome stood up. As she walked she caught Sango's eyes. She made no signal but Sango knew exactly what Kagome wanted to say. She would be waiting outside. Sango only hoped that waiting wouldn't cause Kagome to die.

Kagome left the room quietly. She missed the eyes that trailed her figure out the door. Inuyasha clenched his fists. _Stay alive Kagome. As soon as I get out of this room I'm going to find you. So you better be alive._

As soon as Kagome left the room she slowed down her pace. She wanted to waste as much time as possible in the building. There were only four students ahead of her but she didn't know if any of them were playing the game. _Shit, this isn't any game. This is as far from a game as you could possibly get. A game is suppose to be a friendly competition, not murder. They're all wrong. This isn't a game. _

Kagome was abruptly taken out of her thoughts when a man stepped out of another office. He pointed his rifle at Kagome. "Don't loiter around. Get out of this building now," he commanded.

Kagome stared at the rifle with wide eyes and then turned and fled. She wanted to put a wall between her and the gun. Once she got outside she leaned against the wall and waited for Sango. She didn't have to wait long as Sango came running out of the building not a minute later. Kagome grabbed Sango's arms and pulled her friend to a halt.

Sango spun around wildly and held up her hands in a defensive measure. When she saw it was Kagome she lowered her arms. "Kagome let's get out of this open area. There are trees just over there, we can wait in them," she said, her pupils dilated with fear.

Kagome nodded and the girls quickly made their way for the cover of the trees. They made it there without incident. "Do you think we'll be safe here until Inuyasha and Miroku get out?" asked Kagome quietly.

"I don't know," answered Sango truthfully. "They'll be the last two to get called out. So I don't know. I don't even know who is playing this game."

"It's not a game."

Sango looked at her friend who had quietly spoken. "You're right. It's not a game. It's madness. It's not right."

Kagome nodded in agreement. "Well while we're waiting we should see what weapons we have," said Kagome unzipping her duffel bag.

Sango nodded. She still refused to kill anyone. She couldn't picture herself killing any one of her classmates. But she was also logical enough to know that she had to be prepared. She opened her bag and pulled out a coil of rope. She looked to see what Kagome had received. She saw that her friend had a little more luck than she had. Kagome was holding a bow and had ten arrows poking out of her bag. She laughed at Kagome's luck. Kagome was the best archer in the school. She had been taking archery lessons since she was seven.

Kagome glanced up at Sango's laugh. She smiled in return. She had gotten lucky. Of all weapons this was the best she could have received. "What did you get Sango?"

In answer Sango held up her rope. Kagome raised her eyebrow. "That's your weapon? Well you better stick by me. I'll protect you," she said completely seriously.

Under any normal circumstances what Kagome had said would have been laughed at. No one ever vowed to protect their best friend in 9th grade. But then these were the least normal circumstances you could ask for. Kagome did not want to kill anybody. But she also knew that if someone threatened Sango's life she would not hesitate to shoot. The last thing she wanted to witness was the death of her best friend of 9 years.

Sango smiled gratefully at Kagome. The two girls settled back against a tree. So far they had gone unnoticed by all the students that had left. They only wished their luck could continue.

========

Midoriko Ogawa cautiously stepped outside the building. She was a little disappointed when she saw no one waiting outside. She was hoping that the class would band together and refuse to play such a pointless game. But her hopes were dashed as soon as she stepped outside. They had all run off. Midoriko decided to take it upon herself to rally the rest of the students that would be following her. She waited outside the door for the next student.

Eri Oki sprinted outside the open door. She vaguely saw a figure standing outside. When the figure raised their hand Eri put on a burst of speed and fled into the woods. There was no way she would trust anyone who was standing outside the door. For all she knew they were waiting for unsuspecting students to come out so they could kill them. Eri wouldn't fall for that trap.

Midoriko let her arm fall back down. She didn't mean to frighten Eri but it looked like that was all she was able to accomplish. She sighed and waited for the next student to come out.

The next student to cross the threshold was Naraku Onigumo. He casually stepped outside acting as if he wasn't scared at all. And he really didn't have any reason to be. His weapon was a gun, a Cougar Magnum to be precise. When he had opened his bag and seen that he smiled. It was one of the more powerful pistols. And Naraku knew how to use a gun; his dad had been taking him to a firing range since he was eight.

Midoriko sighed relief when she saw that Naraku wasn't frightened. _Good, it looks like I'll be able to recruit him. He doesn't look like he'll scare easily._ Midoriko stepped out of the shadows and walked over to Naraku.

"Naraku?" she said softly. She didn't want to surprise him by speaking in a normal voice.

Naraku looked towards the girl who was talking to him. It didn't really matter who she was. He would kill whoever got in his way. There was no way he would die on this pathetic island.

Midoriko, seeing that Naraku was listening, strengthened her voice. "I'm so glad you aren't scared. I was thinking that if we all teamed up we could find a way off this island."

Naraku brought his right hand to his waist to where he had previously stashed his pistol. He pointed his gun at Midoriko and clicked off the safety.

Midoriko saw the gun and took a step back. "You…you're playing!" she said in disbelief. It was so hard for her to imagine anyone playing this terrible game. It was unfathomable that a student would willingly kill his or her's classmates.

Naraku smirked at the trembling girl. "Of course I am. Do you honestly think I would let one of you kill me?" He fired his gun once into Midoriko's chest. Then without waiting to see if she died he grabbed her duffel bag and sauntered off.

Midoriko gasped in pain. She lay on the ground staring up at the night sky. Her blood pooled around her and her once shiny black hair became full of the dark, sticky substance. As she slowly faded into the painlessness of death she thought back on her classmates. She realized that all of them would die and suddenly she was glad to be the first one killed. She would never want to witness or hear about her friend's deaths. And with that final thought Midoriko passed on. And she was lucky. She would be one of the few students who would die without a heart full of hate.

========

Kagome and Sango gasped and covered their mouths with fear and disgust when they heard the gunshot. They had just witnessed Naraku murder Midoriko. They had watched Naraku pull the trigger. They had watched Midoriko fly backwards. They had watched the blood streaming out of Midoriko's chest. And they did nothing. They didn't try to help the dying girl. Both of them were too frozen in fear to move. As one they turned to each other.

Sango reached out an arm and put it around Kagome's shoulders. They sat like that in silence for several minutes. It was the only way they could think of to mourn Midoriko. They couldn't bury her so they honored her death. In that way they missed Naraku enter the woods just a hundred yards east of them and start walking towards the girls.

Sango jerked her head up suddenly when she heard a twig snap. She stared off into the woods and thought she saw a figure dart behind a tree. She quickly stood up and beckoned for Kagome to follow her.

Without question or comment Kagome stood up and grabbed her bag. Whatever it was Sango saw scared her. Her friend's eyes were darting from tree to tree. At every sound she jerked. Kagome assumed that Sango had seen a student. She began following her friend deeper into the woods. As they briskly walked away from the law office Kagome's senses grew alert. She heard every rustle of leaves, every step Sango took. She heard the cicadas whispering in the trees. They almost seemed to be warning her from some hidden danger. She could almost hear them saying _keep walking. Someone is following you. Don't look behind you just keep walking._ Kagome knew that behind any tree there could be somebody. Whether friend or foe was up for grabs. But after witnessing the murder of Midoriko Kagome didn't want to see anyone unless they were Miroku and Inuyasha.

Sango led her friend deeper into the woods and away from the mystery shadow she had seen. She thought they had put enough distance between them and the shadow so she stopped walking. She turned to Kagome to tell her what she saw when her eyes grew wide with fear. Naraku was 20 feet away from them, a gun pointing at Kagome's back.

Sango reacted instantly. She dove at Kagome and grabbed her around the waist. She heard the gun go off and immediately rolled to the left with her friend. She kept rolling until she got under the cover of some bushes. She grabbed a handful of dirt and jumped up. As soon as she saw Naraku she flung the dirt at him. Without waiting for his response she hauled Kagome to her feet and together they took off running.

Sango and Kagome ran for what seemed like an eternity but was in reality only ten minutes. When they finally stopped they fell to their knees and attempted to catch their breath. Both of them were covered with scrapes and cuts from where branches hit their exposed skin. Neither cared. They were both alive. That's all that mattered. They were alive.

Kagome looked at her friend. Sango had tears streaming down her face. When she touched her own face she realized she was crying as well. She crawled to Sango and embraced her friend. Sango had saved her life. If it weren't for Sango she would be in the same position as Midoriko, her eyes lifeless and her body unmoving.

Sango wrapped her arms around Kagome. She had almost lost her best friend. If she had turned around a second later she only would have been in time to watch Naraku blow Kagome apart.

The two friends sat and rocked each other. It was too much. Only an hour had passed and their lives had already been threatened.

========

There you go, your first death scene. And from here on out there will most likely be a death every chapter. And for the guns, I don't know guns at all. All I know about guns has pretty much come from my experiences with playing James Bond games. And who says videogames don't teach you anything? : ) So if my guns seem weird or stupid or they don't even exist, I'm sorry in advance!

Review Responses:

**Tanoliko:** Wow, I'm glad you like it! And if you like to read than I recommend reading the book Battle Royale. It's a bit long but I think it's better then the manga.

**Chaoticxsky:** Do you happen to know how hard your name is to type? And I only wish I was creative to come up with the concept myself. But alas the great author Koushun Takami came up with Battle Royale.

**Jen:** Alright, a new reader! Yea! And don't worry, I won't be taking this story down. So you'll be able to see how all the Inuyasha characters die. : )

**Mewie:** To be honest I didn't quite remember the specifics to all the rules. So I made my own variations because I didn't have the book to look at. Hope they work ok!

**Moonglow gal: **I've never read Lord of the Flies so I don't know what kind of book it is. And wow, you seem like a vicious person! And depending on your favorite characters you may have some time to plan your hunt of me or you may have to start pretty soon! : )


	5. Betrayed

Just so everyone knows, I'll be going out of town on Saturday (going to LA). I'll be getting back on Thursday, so don't expect any updates until Friday at the earliest. Now on to the chapter! 

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**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 4: Betrayed

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**September 23, 2004; 7:30 PM**

**25 Students Remain**

**Recently Deceased: Midoriko Ogawa**

When Yura heard the gunshot in the distance she dove into the closest set of bushes and huddled up into a ball. With shaking hands she opened up her duffel bag. She now knew that at least one student was playing and so she decided at that point to play as well. She wasn't going to let one of her classmates sneak up on her and kill her when she wasn't even prepared. When she first looked in her bag all she saw where her food rations and water bottles. She frantically pushed those aside in search of her weapon. When she found it she thought it was a cruel joke. There was no way that it could be considered a weapon. But when she saw nothing else but the other items that were provided her face fell.

"Shit."

It was a dinner fork.

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When Inuyasha's name was finally called he walked outside to wait for Miroku. The first thing he saw was a black lump on the ground. He didn't want to go near it but when he thought it could be a student who was still alive his conscience got the better of him. He cautiously walked up to the still figure. When he reached it he gagged and sank to his knees.

The lifeless eyes of Midoriko stared up at him. She had a hole in her chest where the bullet had entered her body. A thick pool of blood surrounded her and her uniform had been stained a deep red with the substance.

Inuyasha crawled backwards until he ran into the wall. He slowly made his way back to his feet and leaned against the wall, his arm resting against the wall and his forehead against his arm. He took deep breaths trying to calm his queasy stomach and racing heart. When he heard Miroku step outside he looked to his friend. He saw Miroku take a step towards the body and he immediately reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't go any closer Miroku. It's too horrible. You don't want to see," he choked out.

Miroku looked terrified. "Sango…"

"NO! Kagome and Sango are ok. It's Midoriko. Someone shot her."

Miroku sagged his shoulders with relief. He hated himself for thinking it but he was glad it was Midoriko and not Sango or Kagome. The last thing he wanted to come across were the dead bodies of those two girls. That would be a hit to his heart he wouldn't be able to survive.

Besides for Inuyasha, Sango and Kagome knew him the best. They were the only other ones who understood him. The four of them met in 1st grade but they didn't actually become friends until 3rd grade. Before then it was just Inuyasha and him. But in 3rd grade the teacher had put them together for a group project. Sango had dropped a box of crayons and as she was bending down to pick them up Miroku got the uncontrollable urge to reach out and pat her butt. So he did. The reaction was instantaneous. Sango squealed while Inuyasha and Kagome punched him. It looked like a scene that had happened countless times before because their movements flowed together. When Sango recovered from her shock she glared at Miroku who smiled innocently back. Then for some odd reason they all started laughing. Ever since then they had been a group, none of them had better friends then the ones in the group. And within the past year Miroku had developed a crush on Sango and Inuyasha had one on Kagome. But neither of them ever told the girls. It seemed weird to them, like they had known the girls so long it felt wrong to suddenly have a romantic interest in them. Now Miroku was cursing his inability to express his true feelings towards Sango. He vowed that once they found them, which they definitely would, he would tell Sango how he felt.

Miroku looked at Inuyasha who was still leaning against the wall. He knew he had to get his friend out of the area because where they were standing would soon become a dead zone. He took a hold of Inuyasha's upper arm and guided his friend away from the dead girl. Inuyasha let himself be led for a while but eventually he regained his strength and walked beside Miroku.

"Let's go find the girls," said Inuyasha.

Miroku nodded his head and together the two friends plunged into the surrounding woods.

========

Hiten and Mantan Kotohiki quietly walked through the woods. They were twins but by looking at them you wouldn't think it. Hiten was well built with a handsome face. He had thick brown hair, which he kept in a braid running down to his waist. Mantan was overweight, had a pale complexion, and had mousy brown hair. If it weren't for Hiten's popularity in the class Mantan would have been a prime target for being picked on. But as it were Mantan was never picked on and was tolerated by the class.

Hiten glanced back at his struggling brother. He sighed and slowed down so his brother could catch up. They had heard two gunshots and so were trying to get as far away from the law office as possible. Hiten had earlier pulled out his map and they were aiming for the houses on the southwest of the island. But what Mantan didn't know was that Hiten had also seen his weapon. It was a bottle of poison. For some reason Hiten felt compelled to keep that info to himself.

"Dammit Mantan, can't you walk any faster?" growled Hiten.

"I'm sorry. I'm going as fast as I can!" cried Mantan.

Hiten kicked a nearby tree and clenched his fists in agitation. His slow, stupid brother was slowing them down too much. If there was anybody near them they wouldn't have a chance of escaping. And anyone with a quarter mile could probably hear his brother's bellyaching.

Mantan, seeing his brother grow impatient, quickened his pace. He had sweat streaming down his face and he was gasping for air. But he wouldn't beg his brother for a break. He knew Hiten could have left him a long time ago but he had stuck with his slower brother. Mantan was eternally grateful towards him. He thought that if he and Hiten stuck together they could overcome anything.

Hiten stared in frustration at his brother's rendition of 'hurrying.' It truly was a pathetic sight. Then he watched as Mantan tripped over an exposed tree root and went sprawling on the ground. "Fuck," he cursed under his breath. As Mantan struggled back to his feet Hiten crouched down and brought his duffle bag in front of him and shielded it from Mantan's view.

Hiten unzipped his bag and rifled through it until he found the poison. He brought it and a water bottle out. He cautiously looked over his shoulder and saw Mantan resting against a tree trunk. He opened the poison and the water bottle. He drank a little of the water and then proceeded to pour the poison into the bottle. _Oh god, what am I doing? Do I really plan on poisoning my own brother? But if I don't he'll wind up getting both of us killed. He's too slow and loud to hide from anyone. I won't be able to protect him. If we continue on like this someone will track us down and attack us. And they'll kill him in a painful way. His last moments will be full of agony. But if I poison him he won't be hurt. He won't have bullet wounds or blood pouring out of his body. Yes, the best thing I can do for my brother is save him from an agonizing death._

With his mind made up Hiten stood up and walked over to his brother. He knelt down by his gasping twin and unscrewed the poisoned water. He held it out for Mantan.

Mantan smiled gratefully at his brother and took the bottle from his hand. "You're too good brother. I owe everything to you. I would never want another brother." Mantan brought the bottle to his lips and drank in deep gulps.

Hiten looked on in horror. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He had poisoned his brother. His brother who loved and trusted him completely. His eyes widened in fear when Mantan began coughing violently. He caught him in his arms when Mantan fell forward. Hiten sat on the ground and pulled Mantan into his arms.

Mantan rolled his eyes back to look at his twin. It felt like his whole body was on fire and slowly being destroyed from the inside. It felt like his stomach was melting. "Hiten…brother…what's wrong with me?" he gasped out.

Hiten thought for a moment about lying to his brother. It would be so easy to let Mantan die without him knowing it was Hiten who killed him. But he quickly decided against it. The least he could do for his brother was tell him the truth. "I'm sorry. I poisoned your water." Hiten was aghast at how it came out. It sounded cold and horrible, it sounded like Hiten didn't care.

Mantan lurched out of Hiten's grasp. "What the fuck did you do that for?" he yelled. A fit of coughing soon overcame him.

As Mantan crouched on the ground Hiten placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. Mantan jumped back as if Hiten's touch burned him.

"Don't fuckin touch me!" spat out Mantan. He could no longer support himself and collapsed to the ground. He lay sprawled out on his stomach.

Hiten clawed his hands into the ground. He didn't even notice the tears flowing out of his eyes. "Mantan, I don't know why I did that. Something possessed me."

Mantan met Hiten's eyes, his eyes blazing with hatred. "Well I do know. You let that bastard Kazuhiko win. He said minds would break. Well let me tell you _dear_ brother," Hiten flinched at how Mantan said that, "your mind lost. You couldn't even last two hours out here. So maybe I'm dying now but you'll soon follow me. You're too weak to last out here."

Hiten stared at his dying brother in disbelief. He had never heard Mantan speak with such anger or ferocity before. _But then again, he also never had his brother betray him._ Hiten realized he deserved everything Mantan threw at him. "Is there anything I can do for you?" he choked out.

"Yes."

Hiten looked up with hopeful eyes. "What is it? I'll do anything!"

"Go die and rot in hell."

Hiten was speechless. He didn't know how to respond to that. He didn't know how to get his brother to understand that he was sorry. _Shit, if he poisoned you would you forgive him?_ Hiten's eyes fell when he realized he would be just as hateful as Mantan. He stared at the ground and missed Mantan's last breath. When he looked back up his brother's lifeless eyes greeted him.

A great sob tore its way out of his chest. He crawled to Mantan and pulled his dead brother into his arms. _I did this to him. I murdered my own brother. And I did it in a sneaky, underhanded method. And he loved me. I betrayed my own brother. I killed my family. Mantan's right, I do deserve hell. But…but…I didn't mean to! But I had poured the poison and handed my brother the bottle with my own hands. No one forced me to do it. I did it all myself._

Hiten ran his fingers through Mantan's hair. "Mantan, I'm so sorry," he sobbed.

A rustling in some nearby bushes caused Hiten to put his brother down and stand up. He could hear two girls talking. Suddenly they appeared and stood in shock at the scene in front of them.

Sango and Kagome froze. They looked from the dead body of Mantan to the crouched Hiten. It was plain to them that Hiten murdered his brother.

Hiten stared at the girls. _Fuck, they probably think I'm a murderer. But I'm not because I'm sorry for it. But they won't care. They'll think I'm evil. They'll hate me. They'll want to kill me. But I can't let them do that! I have to survive!_

Without warning Hiten lunged at Kagome. He caught the girl off guard and rammed into her chest. They fell to the ground and he began clawing at her face and neck.

Kagome screamed in surprise when Hiten charged her. She tried to fight him off but she was too weak and Hiten was driven by insanity.

Sango tried to pull Hiten off of Kagome but all she succeeded in doing was getting punched in the stomach. As she gasped in pain she caught sight of her rope poking out of her bag. She ran over to it and pulled it out. She held it so that about a foot and a half was between her hands. She pulled it taunt and then lunged at Hiten. She managed to wrap the rope around his neck and pull it tight.

When Hiten felt the rope encircle his neck he stopped attacking Kagome and tried to pull the rope off his neck. But he was already weakening. The rope was digging into his neck and cutting off his air supply. He started flailing his arms behind him. When he heard a shriek he realized he had gotten lucky and landed a hit on the girl choking him.

Kagome looked on in horror as Sango choked Hiten. She wanted to scream to Sango to stop but her voice failed her. All she could do was sit frozen as Hiten's face turned blue and his eyes finally glaze over.

When the struggling stopped Sango left go of the rope. Hiten's body fell to the side. She brought one hand up to her face and felt the scratch Hiten gave her. It ran from the corner of her left eye to her chin. There was a slight sting to it but it wasn't too bad. She looked at Hiten's body.

"Oh fuck. What did I do?" she said in horror as she stumbled backwards. Her hands were shaking as she bent down and threw up. As she heaved Kagome stood back up and hurried to her friend's side.

When Sango stopped throwing up she wiped her mouth. She straightened back up and walked a few steps and fell to her knees. She began punching the ground as hard as she could. She ignored the pain that flared up in the fists and arms. She ignored Kagome yelling at her to stop. "I killed someone. I choked someone. I'm a murderer. I'm no better than Naraku. I killed a classmate. I deserve to die as well," she cried as she continued to beat upon the ground.

Kagome knelt in front of her friends and grabbed her fists. When Sango fell forward Kagome caught her. She rubbed Sango's back as the girl sobbed on her shoulder. "Don't you dare compare yourself to Naraku. He killed in cold blood. You only killed because you were saving me. You do not deserve to die. Don't you dare ever say that again."

Sango only sobbed harder. "How can you even look at me Kagome? I didn't have to kill him. I could have stopped as soon as I got him to stop attacking you. He could still be alive right now. But I didn't. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to kill him because he attacked you. I'm a murderer Kagome."

"Sango, I would have done the same thing as you. I don't blame you for any of it. He attacked without warning. He gave no reason for attacking us. Sango, Hiten had gone insane. He killed his brother. If we let him live he would have gone after us again."

"I don't want to do this Kagome. I don't want to be forced to kill again. I don't want you to have to kill. I want to find Miroku and Inuyasha. I want to find them so we can find a way off this island. They'll know what to do."

Kagome held her friend tighter. "We find them Sango. We will find them."

========

Hmm, I ended on Kagome and Sango the past 2 chapters. I'll need to stop that. But next chapter (which won't come til Friday) we will be checking in with some of the others besides the main four. Not quite sure who yet as I have yet to write it, but it will focus on some of the other characters. As always, please review!

Review Responses:

**Draconic ban-sidhea:** Yea! Another transplant from Mind Reader! I'm always looking for more readers who don't mind blood and gore! But it's a bit different than my other story, huh? And I couldn't resist making Naraku get the first kill, it's completely AU but I am trying to keep the anime personalities as much as possible. So Naraku will definitely be the bloodthirsty student. And there will be several alliances that form, but you're right, you'll just have to wait and see who's in them!

**Tanoliko:** I really liked your review, I'm glad to see that there are other people who appreciate this fic even though it's not humor or romance and that it is and will always be dark. And I definitely recommend you reading the book. How the author describes the scenes and the emotions the kids are going through is a hundred times better than I could ever dream of writing! And I had to laugh at the 'let the story write itself' as that is what has been happening since I started writing! I knew some of the rough details like the relationships people have with one another, but I had no clue how the actual story would go until I started writing. That's how I always write-I don't know the meaning of 'planning ahead.' Well thanks for the wonderful review and I hope my story never loses it touch for you!

**Mewie:** Hehe, I guess I better start thinking of interesting ways for students to die. I'm open to suggestions! And I'm glad to see that you liked the map. I must say, the map and list I made more for my benefit so that I wouldn't get lost in my own story! But I'm definitely glad to see that you also find them useful. Just two other great ideas I borrowed from the book.

**Moonglow gal:** Wait, would it be sweet to have Kag and Inu die together, or sweet for you to kill me? From your review it sounded like it could go either way! If it was sweet for you to kill me, let me know. I would like some time to gather my weapons and prepare for your attack on me! : )

**Rae-wolf-demon:** Hehe, I'm glad you're liking this story. I'll see what I can do about your Kouga request.


	6. Escape

Well I'm back from LA. It was fun playing tourist for 5 days but I'm also glad to be back home. Not much else to say so here's the next chapter. 

========

**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 5: Escape

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**September 23, 2004: 9:00 PM**

**23 Students Remain**

**Recently Diseased: Hiten Kotohiki, Mantan Kotohiki**

Sesshoumaru led Rin across the island. He had waited for her just 50 yards east of where Sango and Kagome hid. But unlike Sango and Kagome's plan his plan worked. Mostly because Rin came out before Naraku.

_Flashback_

Sesshoumaru kneeled on the ground hidden the shadows of the trees. He was waiting for Rin to come out of the building. About 25 minutes after he came out Rin came out. She looked terrified but immediately began making her way towards the concealing woods. Sesshoumaru tracked her progress and estimated where she would enter the woods. He tore off for that area and managed to get there before Rin.

When Rin entered the woods she looked hesitantly around her. When she saw no one she breathed a big sigh of relief. When she heard footsteps behind her she opened her mouth to scream but a big hand covered her mouth before she could make a sound.

When Sesshoumaru saw Rin was getting ready to scream he moved quickly and covered her mouth before she could alert anyone to their presence. Before his friend could faint from shock he spun her around. When Rin saw him he was surprised to see tears spring to her eyes. His hand that was covering her mouth fell to his side in shock. As soon as he had let go Rin flew into his arms. She clutched him like he was her lifeboat in a sinking ship.

Sesshoumaru stood frozen in shock. He didn't expect Rin to react so strongly when she saw him. It almost seemed like she didn't expect him to wait for her. Rin confirmed this belief.

"Oh Sesshoumaru, I'm so glad you're here! I didn't know what I would do if you weren't with me," she sobbed into his shirt.

Sesshoumaru brought his hands up to Rin's back and hugged her back. "You idiot, did you really think I would abandon you? I could never do that."

"Oh Sess," said Rin using the name only she could get away with, "I love you so much. You're like my big, overprotective brother. Even though I don't have a family you're the next best thing."

Sesshoumaru sighed and held Rin tighter. He also loved Rin as a younger sister and it pained him to hear her talk about her lack of a family. When she was only in kindergarten her parents were killed when a drunk driver hit them. They were driving home from a parent-teacher conference so Rin wasn't with them; a babysitter was watching her at home. After the accident Rin refused to speak to anyone. And no one would adopt her because she was withdrawn. No matter what her teacher or classmates did she wouldn't make a sound.

That all changed when Sesshoumaru transferred into her class. The first day he walked into the classroom he surveyed his new classmates with disdain. Most of them were loud and obnoxious or were whiny. The only kid that didn't immediately annoy him was Rin so he sat by her. For two weeks not a word was passed between them. Then in the 3rd week of Sesshoumaru entering the classroom Rin asked him for the blue crayon. He gave it to her without a word. She then gained the courage to ask him why he never spoke to anyone, so was wondering if he had also lost his parents.

Sesshoumaru shrugged and said he never found anyone worth talking to. This seemed funny to Rin and she started laughing. It was the first time she had cracked a smile since her parents died. After that incident Rin followed Sesshoumaru everywhere and always tried to get him to talk to her. For a week Sesshoumaru tried to get rid of her. It didn't work. So Sesshoumaru finally gave in and started talking to the girl. He was glad he did. They became fast friends and were soon inseparable. And Rin made a metamorphosis. She went from being a meek, mute girl to a social butterfly. Everyone liked her and she was always being invited to parties. But if Sesshoumaru couldn't go she refused to go as well. Nothing could cause her to forsake her best friend. And here, on the island where friendship and trust would be betrayed, they remained true to each other. Rin would follow Sesshoumaru wherever he chose to go and Sesshoumaru would protect Rin until his dying breath.

Sesshoumaru pulled Rin away from him. "We can't linger her, too many of our classmates still have to come out. It would be best if we got as far away from this area as possible."

Rin sniffed back her remaining tears and nodded. "Where should we go?"

"While I was waiting for you I looked at the map of the island. I think we should head to the dock on the northwest of the island. Who knows, maybe we'll be able to get off the island."

"You lead the way and I'll follow."

"Alright, but first you should see what weapon you have. I got a whip so hopefully you'll have somewhat better luck."

Rin finally took notice of the whip coiled at Sesshoumaru's side. He had it going between his belt and waistline so that he wouldn't have to carry it but he still he had easy access to it. Rin knelt down and unzipped her bag. When she pulled it open she gasped in surprise. She reached in and pulled out her weapon.

Sesshoumaru stared in awe at their luck. Rin was holding a double-barreled, sawed-off shotgun. "Wow, well that definitely beats my whip."

Rin climbed to her feet still clutching the gun. She held it out for Sesshoumaru. "You take it. I have no clue how to use it and it's too big for me."

Sesshoumaru nodded in understanding and too the gun out of Rin's hands. He moved to remove his whip but Rin stopped him.

"No, you keep that too. Even if I knew how to use a whip I'm not strong enough to actually do any damage with it."

"Well you can't be weaponless, it's not safe."

Rin scanned the ground and found a thick, two foot long, stick. She held it up proudly. "Will a club work?"

Sesshoumaru chuckled in amusement. "So do you actually plan on getting close enough to someone to use that?"

"I would actually prefer it if I didn't even see anyone."

"So do I. Well let's go. We've already stayed here too long."

_End Flashback_

So now they were making their way towards the dock. Sesshoumaru held the shotgun in his right hand and at the slightest threat he could be ready to shoot in a second. He had also filled his pockets with spare bullets so he wouldn't have to rummage through a bag to reload his gun. Rin was following him but her left hand was grasping a fist full of his shirt so he always knew she was directly behind him.

And so they continued on their silent trek. Sesshoumaru was keeping them in the woods for as long as possible but the trees were beginning to thin and they knew their cover was almost over. Sure enough they walked out of the woods ten minutes later.

When Rin lost the cover of the trees she left go of Sesshoumaru's shirt. She quickly walked to his left side and slid her hand into his free one. She clutched it until her knuckles turned white.

When the familiar touch of Rin on his back left Sesshoumaru tensed up. He was about to swing his gun up when he felt Rin's hand slide into his own. He looked down to see her shaking and her eyes darting from side to side looking for danger. He squeezed her hand in a comforting manner and continued guiding her towards the dock.

Rin saw an outline taking shape in the distance. She realized it was the dock a few minutes later and breathed a big sigh of relief. She and Sesshoumaru reached the dock a few minutes later. Her face plummeted when saw there were no boats moored to the dock. But when she saw twinkling lights in the far distance she grew hopeful. Maybe they would be able to swim to the mainland.

Sesshoumaru was thinking much the same thing Rin was. He walked a few steps onto the dock to try and better gauge the distance to shore. He walked right past a small huddling of trees but thought nothing of it.

Rin moved to follow Sesshoumaru but when she stepped past the trees there was rustling of leaves. Before she could shout a warning to Sesshoumaru she felt a blade of cold steel press against her throat. She became completely still and waited for the slice that was bound to come. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a tall shadow step out of the trees.

"Drop your gun and slowly turn around," said the shadow coldly.

Sesshoumaru froze when he heard the voice. "Rin..." was the first thing that escaped his lips.

"She is fine. But if you don't obey me she won't be."

That was the only thing that needed to be said to get Sesshoumaru to listen. He lowered his right arm and let his gun clatter to the ground. To be extra cautious he brought both hands up to rest on the back of his neck. He turned around and visibly flinched when he saw Rin being held at knifepoint. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to the rip bastard's head off who was threatening Rin. When he saw the other person standing away from Rin his eyes narrowed in anger. "Kouga..." he grounded out.

Kouga slightly grinned when Sesshoumaru noticed him. "Yeah, it's me all right. Now if you would be so kind as to walk this way."

Sesshoumaru clenched his teeth in anger but did as Kouga said. Kouga was one of the last people he would have guessed to play this game. Kouga always seemed so laid-back and cheerful, but here he was threatening to kill Rin if he didn't obey him. When Sesshoumaru stood two feet in front of Kouga he stopped.

"Now if you could sit down."

Sesshoumaru stiffly sat down. He had no idea what Kouga was planning.

With a slight nod to his comrade holding Rin she was released. She rushed to Sesshoumaru's side and sat down as close to him as she could get. When Sesshoumaru felt her trembling one arm when around her shoulders to comfort her.

"Well are you going to kill us or not?" spat out Sesshoumaru.

Kouga, looking like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders, shook his head. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and relaxed. "No, I'm not going to kill you. That was all an act to get you to drop your gun. I don't want to play this game but I also don't want to get killed. So the only thing I could think of to get you to drop your gun was to threaten Rin. You don't know how hard it was for me to act like I didn't care. I'm really sorry," he said softly. With another slight nod two guys came out of the shadows. One was the guy who held Rin captive and the other must have been hiding in the trees. Sesshoumaru recognized them as Ginta and Hakkaku. To show that they meant no harm the three of them sat down in front of Rin and Sesshoumaru.

"So what you're saying is that you guys are friends?" asked Rin.

Kouga nodded his head. "Yes, we mean no harm to you two. It was all defensive what we did."

"What are you doing here?" asked Sesshoumaru.

Kouga took it upon himself to answer that as well. "Well back when we were in 3rd grade we made up our own language, sort of like our version of sign language. Luckily we still used it frequently during PE games to gain the advantage over our opponents. As soon as Kazuhiko drew the map I signaled left, up to Ginta and Hakkaku. We didn't have signs for northwest so I did the only thing I could think of. It seemed to have worked as we all met up here. We were going to attempt an escape but we can't. And as we were about to leave we heard you two. You know the rest."

"Why can't you escape?" asked Rin.

Ginta, who had held Rin captive, decided to explain that part. "Do you see those lights about a hundred yards offshore? It's a ship. It has been sitting there since we've arrived. It must be there to make sure no one tries to escape by sea. We're stuck on this island."

"But it's dark out, there's no way anyone onboard would be able to see us," pressed Rin.

Kouga sadly shook his head. "You're forgetting about the collars. Kazuhiko said that if we go into the dead zones they would explode. So they must have some kind of radar devise in them. Right not there's probably some monitor in the law office that shows the five of us sitting together."

"Then what's the point of the ship? If they can just blow up our collars if we try to escape why do they need a ship?" asked Rin.

"It's because they're sick creatures. They want to see us kill each other. After all, what fun is there in this game if everyone dies by exploding collars when they try to escape? The ship is just there to show us it is hopeless. To spit in our face. If we try to escape our collars will explode, a guaranteed death. But if we stay and fight there is a slight chance we will survive."

"So there's no way to escape?" said Rin sadly.

"No," whispered Kouga so softly he could barely be heard.

"At least you can't escape by swimming," interjected Ginta.

"What do you mean?" asked Sesshoumaru. "What do you guys plan on doing?"

"First, definitely not get in any fights," piped up Hakkaku.

Kouga smiled ruefully. "Yeah, let's just say you guys got a bit more luck than us. Our best weapon is a butcher knife that Ginta got. I got a pair of brass knuckles and Hakkaku got a club."

"Ouch," remarked Rin.

"Rin got a shotgun which she gave to me. I got a whip," informed Sesshoumaru.

"Well it looks like you guys have a chance for survival," said Ginta.

"We're just going to hide out and attempt to come up with another plan of escape," said Hakkaku.

"But with these two boneheads as my companions it may be useless," teased Kouga with a smile.

Ginta punched Kouga's shoulder. "You better watch your mouth or I'll take my knife and leave you with your brass knuckles."

Kouga mocked a stab wound to his heart then turned back to the other two. "So what do you plan on doing?"

Sesshoumaru shrugged his shoulders. "Remain hidden I guess. There's nothing much else we can do."

"Yeah, we're also just trying to stay alive. That's it. Survival. Everything else is just something to do when we're not running for our lives. That's why we reacted the way we did to you two. We didn't think you'd just shoot us without question but then we couldn't be sure. Who knows, we may have just surprised you so much you would have pulled the trigger without thinking. I hope you don't bear any grudges against us," said Kouga, his eyes hopeful.

Rin smiled warmly. "Of course we don't. I really can't blame you either. You did the most logical thing to insure against any senseless deaths."

Kouga smiled in return and then stood up. "Well it's been nice chatting with you two but we really must me going now. We have a plan to attempt to come up with."

Everyone stood up as well. Ginta walked to the dock and brought back Sesshoumaru's gun. He handed it to him meekly. "Friends?" he asked tentatively.

Sesshoumaru gave him a small smile. "Yeah. Just don't threaten to slice Rin's throat again."

"Of course not. Never again," laughed Ginta.

Kouga turned to leave but changed his mind and turned back around. "Be careful. At least one person is playing this game. Someone shot Midoriko. Don't use that shotgun senselessly but be prepared to use it. There are traitors among us."

Before he could make to leave again Rin ran to Kouga and surprised him by throwing her arms around his neck. "Thank you Kouga. And you three better be careful too. Figure out your plan of escape and then get out of here. Don't you dare look back." Rin pulled back from Kouga, tears sparkling in her eyes.

Kouga was surprised at Rin's display of concern. He suddenly wanted anything but to see this girl die. "We'll think of a way off this island but we won't leave without you two. That's a promise."

"Don't worry about us. To worry about us will cause you to die," said Sesshoumaru walking up to join Rin.

"Nah, I'll be fine. Plus I'm the fastest in the class. I could probably find you in 30 minutes." Kouga sent Sesshoumaru a cocky grin. All he got in return was a pair of eyes rolling at him.

Kouga flashed them a thumbs-up sign and then in his best Arnold impersonation he said, "I'll be back." With one last look Kouga, Ginta, and Hakkaku disappeared into the night.

Rin stared off into the distance to where the three guys had left. "Do you think we'll ever see them again?" she asked.

"I hope so, but only in good circumstances," replied Sesshoumaru.

Rin nodded in agreement. Sesshoumaru didn't explain what he meant but she knew. She knew it was quite possible to see them again, alive. But she also knew it was even more possible to come across their lifeless bodies. She knew the next time she saw Kouga he could be dead. She knew she might never see another of his cocky grins. Never hear him boasting about his speed. She never really talked to Kouga in class and didn't know him that well. But suddenly the last thing she wanted was for him to die.

========

I could not make Sess and Rin anything more than like brother/sister, it seems to weird too have them be going out. Plus I like their relationship being like this so I hope you do as well. And I also realized something-no one died this chapter! Wow, a death free chapter. There will be death free chapters sprinkled sporadically about this story but don't expect too many of them. Well I shouldn't have to remind you to review, but heck I'll do it anyways. Review!

Review Responses:

**Tanoliko: **Yea! Another awesome review from you. And nope, I won't be skipping around deaths, after all they only have 2 days to kill everyone so I can't really slack on the killing! And I don't think I could just have them kill each other without a reason, that wouldn't seem right since they're only 9th graders and aren't use to just killing people without cause. And thanks for trying to get your friend to read it, even if she didn't I still appreciate you trying to recruit more readers! And don't worry, even though I let the story write itself I still constantly go back and read my whole story over. I think I've read it straight about 5-6 times now, after each chapter I like to go back and read it to make sure I'm not leaving any loose ends or I said something that contradicts something that happened in a previous chapter. And you're not strange, I've gotten a ton of ideas while in the shower, they just sort of pop into my head!

**Moonglow gal:** Phew, I guess than I can safely put away my pads and weapons. And I'm so happy that I've written one of the most evil stories! I'm so proud now. And I agree, Inu/Kik fics are wrong especially since she's dead. Creepy that people like them together.

**Draconic Ban-sidhea:** Yes, dark is very good. And I'm glad you checked this story out but even more glad that you like it. And I try my hardest with the frequent updates. This story is actually pretty easy to write (easier than Mind Reader) so frequent updates are easy to do.

**Mewie:** Yeah, the situation is changing eveyone into someone they would probably despise in normal circumstances. And I can see your point with the brother's scene being more emotional. I actually didn't even think about giving them a background. _Bangs head against wall. _And I actually know how it will end (pretty amazing coming from me since I don't know what 'planning ahead' means). But no hints for you, you'll just have to continue reading!

**Lady-of-the-darkness:** Yea! I'm glad you like it and even more glad that you're hooked! And I see that you're also morbid, probably a good thing if you're reading this story! I'll see what I can do about more gruesome deaths, only 3 people have died so far so there is quite a lot of chances for bloody deaths!

**Raven222:** Well now you'll just have to wait and see what weapons they got! I actually have a class list with each person's weapon listed beside their name, but that's my list, I won't share it with anyone! But I will tell you're one guess is pretty close.

**Rae-wolf-demon:** Thanks for the review! And glad you liked the map, I try my hardest!


	7. Alliance

Here's the next chapter. Just a little forewarning-the second part of this chapter does get a little gruesome. You've been warned so don't complain to me if you get disgusted by it! But please enjoy (as gruesome as that may sound!). This is actually my favorite (and the longest) chapter so far, and no, not for the gore that will come. I actually like the first part more.

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**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 6: Alliance

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**September 23, 2004: 10:00 PM**

**23 Students Remain**

Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi all huddled in one of the houses on the northeast of the island. They were crouched behind the couch in the family room; they were in the dark because they wouldn't put their flashlights on in case someone was outside. They had come in through the front door; Yuka had smashed the window by it and reached in to unlock the door. There was now a wall between them and the front door, the kitchen lay between them and the entrance.

They were lucky to be together. If it weren't for Yuka they would all be wandering randomly around the island. But Yuka was able to keep her head. Being the first of the three released from the law office she had hid in the woods. She was able to round up her two friends, but she had almost missed Eri who was running wildly into the woods. When Yuka and Ayumi had caught their friend they had pulled out a map to decide where to go. Yuka had just pointed out the houses on the northeast of the island when they heard the gunshot. They turned in time to see Naraku grab Midoriko's bag and saunter off. At that moment they decided to forget about any planning. They ran for the houses. They had made it there without incident and were now deciding on what to do next.

"Do you think we should try and gather any other students?" asked Ayumi. She wanted to believe that most of her classmates were still sane. Even after witnessing the death of Midoriko she still held onto that hope.

"How can we trust anyone?" responded Eri. The murder of Midoriko shook her up the most. She came out right before Naraku. Midoriko had tried to get her to stop. If Eri had trusted her and stopped she would have been there when Naraku came out. He would have killed her just as easily as he killed Midoriko. Her blood would be mixing in with Midoriko's. Distrust saved Eri; she was not willing to give it up. She would find it hard to trust anyone besides her two best friends that were sitting with her right now.

"We can trust Kagome," said Yuka. In elementary school Kagome had been good friends with them. Over the years they had drifted apart, but Yuka still considered Kagome a friend. A friend Yuka could place her full trust in.

"Maybe," said Eri, "but how do you propose we go about finding her?"

Here they were all stumped. Even if they could decide on a few people to be trusted there was still no foolproof plan of finding them. They could all be killed while searching for the ones they could trust.

Ayumi opened her mouth to suggest an idea when she promptly shut it. She held a finger to her lips and pointed to the front door. "Someone's out there," she whispered.

Eri clutched Yuka's arm in terror. _Shit, the window's broken. Whoever it is will know someone's in here. Oh dear god, I don't want to die. Please, whoever you are, don't be an enemy. Please don't be playing this game._

The three girls heard the front door click open. They heard shoes crunch on the broken glass that was spread all over the front entrance. They heard the deep breathing of the intruder.

"Hello?" came a tentative voice. "Is anyone here? Please, I don't want to hurt you." The faceless voice was wavering, it sounded like the owner was about to break down in tears.

Yuka recognized the voice. For a split second she thought of ignoring the terrified person and hope that they just left. But she quickly decided against it. _It's no good to be alone, _she thought before standing up to the terror of Eri and Ayumi.

Eri squeezed Yuka's calf in hope of forcing some sense into her friend. It failed. Yuka bent down and removed Eri's hand and gave it a gently squeeze. "Trust me," she whispered. Eri stared at Yuka with wide eyes, but she let her friend go.

Yuka stood back up and faced the doorway to the kitchen. _Hopefully my trust won't get me killed._ "Hojo?" she called out questioningly.

Yuka heard the boy give a gasp and then it sounded like he stumbled over a chair in the kitchen.

"Yuka? Is that you?" called out Hojo in hope.

Yuka smiled even though she knew Hojo couldn't see it. "Yeah, it's me. I'm with Eri and Ayumi. We won't hurt you. Come to the family room."

At the sound of approaching footsteps Eri and Ayumi held their breath. They could be the footsteps of hope or the footsteps of doom. They fervently hoped for the former.

Hojo appeared in the doorway and by the moonlight filtering through the windows Yuka could see the tears glistening on his face. "Yuka?" he said. "Is it really you? Please tell me I'm not dreaming."

Yuka walked up to Hojo much to the dismay of her friends. When she reached Hojo she held her hands out to her sides in a sign of peace. _This is it. Now it's time to see his true colors. I hope to god I'm not wrong about him._ "It's really me Hojo."

Hojo responded by throwing his arms around Yuka's neck. He started shaking in relief. "You don't know how relieved I am to find you," he sobbed.

Yuka patted Hojo's back. "No, I'm pretty sure I know," she said wryly.

Hojo left go of Yuka and stepped back. He smiled sheepishly while rubbing his eyes dry. "Sorry, I guess I let my emotions grab a hold of me."

Yuka laughed good-naturedly at the now flustered boy. "It's quite all right. We're all girls here so we won't make fun of your little crying escapade."

A bright smile lit up Hojo's face. It felt so good and safe to be in the presence of this friendly and trusting girl. Before he stumbled upon this house it felt like he was drowning in despair. He thought he would never be able to feel safe or smile again. But just a couple of minutes with Yuka and he was already smiling. He felt safe and relaxed in her presence.

Yuka looked over her shoulder and beckoned for her friends to join her.

Eri and Ayumi stood up and cautiously walked up to join Yuka and Hojo. Hojo stuck his hand out. "Friends?" he asked anxiously.

With a grin Ayumi grabbed Hojo's hand and gave it a firm shake. "Well if Yuka trusts you then I guess I will too. Great to have you onboard for this ride through hell," she said brightly. Hojo smiled in return then placed his hand out for Eri. He looked at her hopefully.

Eri looked warily at the hand held in front of her. She wanted to trust him; she desperately needed to trust him. She had to know that there were still other people she could trust. But it was so hard. Not even 4 hours before she saw Midoriko die. She watched Naraku walk away from her still warm body. She knew the boy standing in front of her was not Naraku. But she couldn't will her hand to realize that. Her hand stayed limp at her side.

Hojo saw the conflicting emotions in Eri's eyes and her slightly trembling body. He withdrew his hand so he wouldn't cause further damage to the obviously frail girl in front of him. He knew something had to have happened to make her react this way when her friends trusted him. And whoever did this to the girl he wanted to hurt. He felt an odd sense of protectiveness for her come over him. It had to be because her friend's trusted him and saved him from facing this danger by himself. Hojo clenched his fist at his side. _I don't blame you Eri. Please, don't feel bad for not trusting me. I place the blame entirely on whoever did this to you. But don't worry, I won't hurt you. I'll protect you. Whatever bastard did this to you will pay._

Yuka, also noticing the trembling body of Eri put a comforting arm around her friend's shoulders. She led Eri back to the floor they were sitting on previously.

Ayumi looked at Hojo with sad eyes. "I'm sorry Hojo. Please don't be mad at her. She has a reason for being like that."

Hojo turned to face Ayumi. "What is it?" he asked softly.

"Midoriko tried to get her to stop. She was trying to gather as many students as she could so no one would die. Eri didn't trust her and ran into the woods to hide from her. Naraku came out next. He shot and killed Midoriko. If Eri had trusted Midoriko she would be dead right now. Midoriko had trusted everybody and she died. Eri can't get that out of her mind."

Hojo stepped back as if someone had punched him. It wasn't because of what Ayumi said about Eri. He still felt sad for the girl but now his mind was on someone entirely different. "Midoriko is…dead?" he asked in disbelief, grief clouding his eyes.

Ayumi nodded sadly.

Hojo grabbed his head in pain and started rocking back and forth on his heels. "No…no…NO!" he screamed, frightening all three of the girls. "She's one my best friends! We still need to graduate high school together! We still need to go to medical school together! She's not dead. Not dead. SHE'S NOT DEAD! You're wrong. You're WRONG! She's just injured. That's it. She's injured and she's needs my help. I need to go save her," cried Hojo vehemently.

Ayumi grabbed Hojo's hands and pulled them away from his head. She squeezed them gently. "Hojo, Naraku shot her point blank in the chest. She's gone. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. But if you go back to her your collar will explode. Remember? The area surrounding the law office is a dead zone. Midoriko did what she did because she believed that her classmates wouldn't kill anyone. She did that because she didn't want anyone to die. The last thing she would want is for you to die because you thought she was still alive. Please, stay with us," pleaded Ayumi.

Hojo's shoulder's sagged. The tears continued to stream down his face but he realized that Ayumi was right. "You're right. I'm sorry for being stupid."

Ayumi smiled sadly and embraced Hojo. "It's not stupid to care for your friends," she said softly.

Yuka watched as Ayumi led Hojo to sit with them. Eri was still leaning against her but Yuka knew Eri heard everything Hojo said.

When Hojo sat down he made sure to sit as far from Eri as possible. He now knew what terrified the girl and he couldn't blame her. Naraku had killed Midoriko and made Eri a nervous and untrusting girl. He would pay dearly for that. Hojo looked up in surprise when Eri stood up and sat down by him.

"I heard what you said about Midoriko," she said softly, staring at the wall in front of her. "And I'm sorry for not trusting you before. Only a true friend would react the way you did. I know now in my heart that you could never kill someone in cold-blood. I hope you'll forgive for not trusting you before."

Hojo smiled sadly and drew the girl into a one-armed hug, resting his head atop of hers. "There's nothing to forgive Eri. I never blamed anything on you."

Eri was surprised. She felt safe in Hojo's arms. Before now she never really knew him that well. And yet here he was holding her while her classmates could be dying. And she felt safe. That moment sealed it. She could place her life in Hojo's hands and he wouldn't forsake her.

Hojo gently released the girl, glad that she now trusted him. It saddened him to think that it took his reaction to his beloved friend's death to get her to trust him, but after hearing what Ayumi said he understood why it took that.

Hojo straightened up and the girls could tell he was about to get down to business. "So what weapons do you guys have? I have a 9mm Uzi in my bag."

"Why aren't you carrying it?" asked Yuka.

Hojo shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I just don't feel comfortable holding a gun. And I definitely don't feel comfortable shooting someone, especially someone I know." _Unless if that person is Naraku. I would gladly put a bullet between his eyes._

Yuka nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I don't think I would be able to either. So I guess it was a good thing we were friendly."

Hojo lightly smiled. "Yeah, I took my chances with that. I could have come in here with my gun raised, but that wouldn't work too well for good first impression. So what weapons did you guys get?"

The three girls looked embarrassed at this question. "Well, we didn't exactly look yet," said Ayumi, her cheeks tinted a light pink.

"What?" exclaimed Hojo, "you didn't look? You were wandering around completely defenseless?"

"Heh heh, I guess it slipped our minds?" suggested Eri.

"No shit," groaned Hojo. When he saw the girls still sitting there looking embarrassed he groaned again. "Well are you going to look or not?"

The girls dove for their packs which earned them a snort from Hojo.

"And just what the hell am I suppose to do with this?" said Ayumi in exasperation. She held up 5 darts that normally came in the cheap dart sets. "Play a relaxing game of darts while people are hunting me?"

Yuka smiled in amusement and then pulled out her weapon. It was a hatchet. "Eww," she said, "I'm not chopping anyone up!"

"Don't worry, if someone comes after us I'll just blow them up." Eri smiled victoriously and held up half a dozen hand grenades.

"Nice weapon," commented Hojo. "Just make sure you don't pull the pins out."

Eri smacked Hojo on the back of his head. "I may be a girl but I still know how to work a hand grenade."

Hojo rubbed his head and apologized. He caught Yuka staring at the grenades as if they had sprouted faces and were now talking to her. "Hey, is something wrong with her?" he asked in Eri's ear.

Yuka heard him and looked up. She grinned triumphantly. "I think I have a plan."

========

Yura walked dejectedly through the woods. She saw no point in even trying to survive. _After all,_ she thought, _I got stuck with a fuckin dinner fork._ She clenched said weapon in her right hand. She wanted so much to just dig it into Kazuhiko's smirk and gouge out his tongue. She was so lost in her thoughts of maiming Kazuhiko that she completely missed it when she walked into a clearing. Which was already occupied by someone else.

Mayu Kuronaga looked up when she heard someone enter her clearing. Mayu was a short, stocky girl who didn't have any friends. She had just moved to Tokyo and so didn't have any friends at Shikon High. Before Yura had disrupted her thoughts she was thinking about her idiotic mother. Her mom thought it would be better for Mayu in a big city with a better education system. Before they lived on an island not unlike the one she was now on. Figures that the high school she transferred to just had to be the one picked for the Battle Royale. But if Mayu had to compete in it she was glad it was with these classmates. These people she didn't know. She could kill them without feeling remorse.

When Yura heard someone jump to his or her feet she froze in mid-step and looked up. The new girl, Mayu, was glaring murderously at her and holding a hammer. Yura immediately dropped her bag and crouched down into what she hoped to be a fighting stance. She would prefer if she didn't have to kill anyone but she wasn't going sit back and let someone murder her. "What are you doing?" she asked tightly.

Mayu chuckled dangerously. "What does it look like bitch? I'm going to kill you. I'm gonna fuckin bash your skull in and then do the same to the next person. I'm going to kill everyone so I can go home and tell my asshole of a mother what a fucked up decision she made in moving me to Tokyo."

Yura got a firmer grip on her fork and laughed humorously. The first person she ran into just had to be a psychotic girl with parent issues. And now she was going against this girl armed with a fork. _Damn my luck. A mad girl armed with a hammer versus little ole Yura armed with the good old-fashioned dinner fork. My chances look pretty damn slim._

Mayu smirked and then charged Yura. She held her hammer up high and when she reached Yura she swung it down aiming for Yura's head.

At the last possible second Yura recovered from her shock at being charged. She dodged to the right but the hammer still managed to graze her left shoulder. She cried out in pain and fell to the ground, her shoulder throbbing. From the corner of her eye she could see Mayu raise her hammer for the killing blow. Yura had a surge of anger for the girl in front of her and quickly pulled her legs to her chest and aimed a kick at Mayu's shins. She smirked when Mayu fell to the ground with a scream. Brandishing her fork Yura flipped over and crawled on her hands and knees to Mayu.

Mayu saw Yura coming and copied her move. She managed to kick the fork out of Yura's hands. When Yura cursed in anger Mayu took the opportunity to pounce on her. The two girls rolled and fought tooth and nail. When they finally came to a rest Yura had the advantage as she was on top.

Mayu, not caring that she was on the bottom, landed a punch on Yura's left eye. Yura retaliated by punching Mayu in the mouth. She screamed in agony when pieces of Mayu's teeth became lodged in her knuckles. Mayu grinned through a broken and bleeding mouth. She grabbed the sides of Yura's face and dug her nails in deep. She dragged her hands all the way down Yura's face. Her nails became full of Yura's skin and blood.

"Fuck you!" screamed Yura in pain and rage. She made a fist and slammed it down on Mayu's nose. She smiled in sadistic pleasure when she felt Mayu's nose collapse under her fist.

"I'm gonna fuckin send you to hell!" yelled Mayu before kneeing Yura in the stomach and flipping them over so she was on top. She paid no heed to her inability to breathe through her nose or the fact that blood was continuing to stream out of her mouth and onto the flailing girl beneath her. All that mattered was killing this threat to her life. Her hands enclosed on Yura's neck and began choking the life out of the girl.

Yura's good eye snapped open when she felt Mayu begin to strangle her. She looked wildly around her for a weapon. She saw her fork lying a few feet to her left. She reached out her left hand and grabbed nothing. The fork was an infuriating two inches too far. Yura strained as hard as she could. One inch…1/2 an inch…she felt her eyesight start to dim. She was losing too much oxygen. She was running out of time. She strained even harder. A little farther. She silently cheered when she felt her fingers slide over smooth metal. She enclosed her fingers upon her weapon and brought it to her side. She maneuvered it until she held it like a knife she was going to stab someone with.

Mayu paid no attention to Yura's movements. All she focused on was tightening her grip around the dying girl's neck. When she saw Yura open her mouth to try and get air she grinned triumphantly. "Die bitch," she growled.

Yura managed to smirk. "Wrong," she gasped out before plunging her fork into Mayu's right eye.

Her reaction was instantaneous. Mayu screamed in pain and jumped off of Yura, the fork still imbedded in her eye. She collapsed on the ground and cursed incoherently.

Yura leisurely stood up. "What is that you little bitch? I can't understand you," she laughed. She walked to the sobbing girl and kicked her onto her back.

Mayu stared up at the Yura, fear clouding her undamaged eye. She began gurgling on her own blood, she could no longer spit the blood out of her mouth and she couldn't breathe out of her nose. It felt like she was drowning.

Yura casually reached down and picked up Mayu's abandoned hammer. She tossed it from hand to hand while slowly getting closer to Mayu. "Sorry," she said coldly, "but it seems it's your day to die."

Mayu watched in horror as Yura brought the hammer up. _I love you Mom. I'm sorry._ Mayu watched the hammer come closer and closer. Her eye widened. Then she saw no more.

Yura ripped the hammer out of the now dead girl's head. With her other hand she pulled out her fork. After the fork saved her life she didn't want to part with it. When she saw an addition to her fork she slightly gagged but quickly used her hammer to push off the unwanted eye. Then grabbing both her and Mayu's bag she left the clearing.

========

There, so how was my first gore scene? Hope it wasn't too bad. And hopefully I didn't turn anyone off of my story, that wasn't the intent! Well as always, please review and tell me what you think! I think next chapter we will have to check up on Kagome and Inuyasha. So look forward to it. Later.

Review Responses:

**Mewie:** I completely agree, in the anime Sess is always looking out for Rin so it would be like a father making out with his daughter if I made them romantically involved. Which is a little disgusting if you ask me! Hehe, already thinking of Kouga's death? Aren't you a kindhearted soul!

**Tanoliko:** Yup, I agree with you. Reviews that say update soon and that's it are a little disappointing to get. The least they could say is good story! And I went ice skating on Saturday. The stupid blades I got were bad so I couldn't turn fast, couldn't skate backwards, and I kept feeling like I was going to fall down. I didn't, but I was close several times!

**Lady-of-the-darkness:** Well the second half of this chapter was for you! I sure hope you enjoyed your first gore scene. I don't know how I did so you'll have to let me know. And I definitely say read the book. But do it after my story is complete, or else you're realize how sucky of a writer I am! : )

**Raven222:** Well really, after the 2nd chapter where Kazuhiko told them the rules there won't be very much plot development. The plot is pretty much kill everyone, I don't really know how to develop on that. There will be side stories with many of the characters as you have read, but that's really it. And as for the weapons each person got, well you'll just have to wait and find out! : )

**Moonglow gal:** Yup, you had your death free chapter only to come back and read how Mayu got massacred. Aren't I evil? And glad you agree with me on the Sess/Rin relationship. I could never read a Sess/Rin story because it would seem too sick to me.

**Guardian of the Hell Gate:** Yea! New Reader! I'm so glad you like it. And of course I'll be continuing. I'll be continuing until this story is complete, I'm hooked on my own story.


	8. Stabbed

Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter, it was my highest review count to date. And as promised we check in with the Inu gang. Enjoy!

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**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 7: Stabbed

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**September 23, 2004: 11:00 PM**

**22 Students Remain**

**Recently Deceased: Mayu Kuronaga**

Miroku and Inuyasha, taking a break, sat down and pulled out a map. Both of them had their weapons out. Inuyasha had received a sword, he thought it was cool at first but then he realized he had never held a sword in his life. So he had stuck it between his belt and his pants and looked longingly at Miroku's weapon. Miroku was fortunate enough to get a .22 pistol. Like Inuyasha he had never held a gun in his life, but then unlike a sword you didn't really need to practice to know how to use a gun. And he had seen enough movies and tv shows to know how to work a gun. Take the safety off, aim, pull the trigger, and BOOM! Miroku currently had the gun stuck in the waistline of his pants. At the moment they were looking at the map, for a couple of minutes it was silent.

"So, if you were Sango and Kagome where would you go?" asked Miroku breaking the silence.

Inuyasha pointed to the houses on the southwest of the island. "In one of these houses," he answered sounding completely sure of himself.

"Why those houses?" asked Miroku. "Why not these houses?" He pointed to the cluster of houses on the northeast of the island.

"They're too close to the law office. Kagome and Sango would assume other students would head there because it's in close proximity to the office. The houses in the southwest are farther away and so would be harder to get there unscathed. But Kagome and Sango are hoping that if they can get there they'll be safe. They're assuming most people will not try that dangerous trek."

Miroku whistled softly. "And there goes my buddy again, managing to impress with his surprising intelligence. Never thought you had it in you to ever sound logical," he teased.

Not missing a beat Inuyasha punched Miroku in the shoulder. He snickered in amusement when Miroku fell over. "And I didn't know you were so weak. Sango could beat you up with one hand tied behind her back."

Miroku grinned and sat back up while brushing the leaves off his shirt. "Yeah, well then Sango is pretty tough. I think she could beat almost anybody. But I was serious before, it sounds like you're right in their mind or something. Do you and Kagome have some sort of mind connection thing going on?"

"No, me and Kagome don't have a mind connection. I've just known them for so long I can guess what they would do in this situation. I'm sure if you stopped being an idiot, hard I know, you would come to the same conclusion."

Miroku squinted his eyes in concentration. "Wait!" he exclaimed, "I'm feeling something here." He moved his head a few inches to the right and stuck his hand up over his head. "Got it! I've got a connection with Sango. Let's see...hot damn! She thinks my ass is hot!"

Inuyasha groaned and stuffed the map back into his bag. "Are you done being a moron yet?"

Miroku jumped up. "Yup. But I did hear her say they were heading for the southwest houses. So let's go."

Inuyasha pulled out his compass and once he got his bearings he snapped it shut and popped it back into his pocket. "Let's go."

"Yes sir!" said Miroku while giving Inuyasha a mock salute. He laughed at his annoyed friend, slung his bag over his shoulder, and followed Inuyasha. _I'm coming Sango. So stay alive._

========

"How much farther do we have?" gasped Sango sliding to the ground. She leaned against a tree trunk and pulled out a bottle of water. They had alternated between walking and jogging for the past three hours. Unfortunately they had gotten lost in the woods and wound up going back in the direction of the law office. Kagome had managed to get them back on track but now they were exhausted.

Sango glanced down at the boomerang that she had in her lap. When Sango was busy recovering from killing Hiten Kagome had taken it upon herself to rummage through the dead twin's bags in hope of finding something useful. She knew Kagome felt sick in doing it, but she knew it had to be done and she wouldn't allow Sango to do it. Luckily Kagome hadn't come up empty handed. She had found a boomerang in Mantan's bag.

Sango now ran her fingers over the smooth wood. She felt comforted by its presence. She knew how to use it. The first time she saw a boomerang was when she was five. She immediately became intrigued with the oddly shaped piece of wood that could be deadly. Her father caught on to her interest right away. He had signed Sango up for boomerang lessons. Sango soon discovered that she had a hidden talent for the weapon. She excelled in her lessons and was told by her instructor a countless number of times that she was his best student. Now Sango was silently grateful for her curiosity as a child and the ability of her father to pick up on it. She now had a weapon she could use; she wouldn't be forced to use the rope again.

For the game had become an even bigger reality for Sango. Within three hour she and Kagome had been shot at and then attacked by an insane student. And Sango had killed someone. No matter what Kagome said all Sango could think about was her killing Hiten. Even though Hiten didn't bleed Sango kept getting images of his blood staining her hands. She knew it was only in her mind, but that scared her even more than if the blood was real. She felt like she was slowly losing her mind. Her subconscious couldn't handle her being a murderer and so was trying to make her go insane. She didn't tell Kagome any of that as she didn't want to worry her friend. But she was constantly fighting to keep Hiten's murder in that back of her mind. She had been constantly clenching the boomerang in one hand, almost as if trying to squeeze out the presence of Hiten in her mind. And so she had managed to keep Kagome in the dark over her battle in her mind. She looked up when Kagome copied her earlier move and sat down against a tree.

Kagome sighed in relief when she sat down. Her legs and feet were killing her, her school shoes were definitely not made for running through the woods. When Sango handed her the water bottle Kagome took it gratefully. She drank several deep gulps then handed it back to her friend. "Thanks," she said.

Sango nodded her head in reply then let her eyes close. She was so exhausted. She knew that if she lay down right now she would be asleep a minute later. It wouldn't matter that she would be on rough ground. She quickly pinched herself before she could relax too much. She had to stay awake and alert. If not for her sake then at least for Kagome's. She stood up and began stretching out her sore muscles.

"We should almost be there," said Kagome looking intently from the map to her surroundings. "We should get to the first set of houses shortly. From there we can decide whether to hole up in one of those or go further south."

Sango nodded and offered a hand to Kagome. "Guess we should get going before we both fall over from fatigue."

Kagome grabbed Sango's hand and was soon hauled to her feet. She stumbled a few feet but quickly regained her balance. She stifled a yawn and reached down for her bag. "How will we decide who gets to sleep first?" she asked.

Sango grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Rock, paper, scissors?" she suggested.

"That words. But I must remind you that I was the reigning champion of 'rock, paper, scissors' in first grade."

Sango grinned at her friend. "Well that's been eight years. I'm sure you're a little bit rusty."

"We'll see," replied Kagome with a smile. The situation she was in was horrible. But she couldn't think of anyone she'd rather be with then Sango. Together the two friends once again set off. They had no clue what lay around each corner or turn they took. But as long as they were together they would make it.

========

Miroku and Inuyasha had entered the woods to the south of the law office not five minutes ago. Inuyasha led and they continued to make their way steadily to the southwest of the island. Miroku stopped for a second to stretch out his tired back. Releasing a great yawn he looked around him. With a start he saw a shadowed figure dart to the trees in front of Inuyasha. He realized with great fear that Inuyasha hadn't seen it.

"Inuyasha!" he yelled in fright.

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder but continued walking ahead. "What do you want? Have another connection with Sango?"

"NO!" shouted Miroku. "Get back here!"

"Miroku, we've stopped too many times already. We can't continue to delay, Sango and Kagome need us."

"Dammit Inuyasha, I'm serious! There's some..." Miroku watched in horror as the mysterious figure jumped in front of Inuyasha. In one fluid motion it slammed it's hand down. The person was a holding a weapon but Miroku couldn't tell what it was. Miroku saw Inuyasha jerk in surprise. Miroku's clenched up in fear and a second later ha had thrown his bag down and was charging.

The assailant looked up in surprise after Inuyasha had fallen to the ground. Without time to properly react against Miroku's charge the person simply lowered their head and crossed its arms tightly over its chest.

Miroku slammed ruthlessly into the mysterious assailant's chest. They both fell to the ground. Miroku pressed his left hand down on the person's throat and with the other pulled out his gun. He clicked off the safety and replaced his left hand with the muzzle of the gun. He pressed it without pity into the person's throat. Only after he had down that did he notice who had attacked Inuyasha.

It was Nazuna Sakaki, a quiet girl with few friends. One of the main reasons she had so few friends was the fact that she was highly superstitious. One time in fifth grade Inuyasha had accidentally broken a mirror. Ever since then Nazuna had refused to speak with him. She didn't want to have anything to do with his seven years of bad luck.

Miroku took his eyes off of the girl for a second to look at his fallen friend. His heart froze when he saw no movement from Inuyasha. "Inuyasha?" he called frantically. "Inuyasha? INUYASHA!"

With a jerk Inuyasha's head moved. He moaned in pain and tenderly sat up on his hands and knees. He leaned back and fell onto his butt. He brought one hand to his chest and could feel the thick liquid running down his body.

Miroku stared in distress at the screwdriver sticking out of Inuyasha's chest. _No,_ he desperately thought, _Inuyasha can't...he can't die! Not like this!_

Unconsciously Miroku pressed the muzzle of the gun deeper into Nazuna's throat. He ignored the pained squeaks that came from her. All he noticed was the blood staining Inuyasha's chest.

Inuyasha slowly crawled forward until he was right in front of Miroku. He placed one hand over the hand that was holding the gun. With as much strength as he could muster he pulled the gun out of Nazuna's throat.

When Miroku became aware of the steady pulling on his gun hand he shook himself awake. He renewed the force pressing on Nazuna's throat.

But Inuyasha was persistent. He once again pulled against the gun. "Don't do anything you'll regret later," he whispered in pain.

Miroku closed his eyes tight. "No. I won't let her get away with this! She stabbed you Inuyasha! She stabbed you for no reason! You could die because of her! I won't let her get away!" he screamed, his finger dangerously close to the trigger.

Nazuna looked on with wide eyes. She didn't dare say a word for fear of Miroku pulling the trigger. She grimaced in disgust when drops of Inuyasha's blood rained down upon her face. _Damn, he's not dead. How could he still be alive? I must have missed his heart._

Inuyasha, ignored the torrents of pain flowing through his body, grabbed both of Miroku's shoulders. "She didn't kill me. And she's not going to! She hit my shoulder. There's nothing fatal in that blow."

Miroku's eyes trailed to Inuyasha's left shoulder. And sure enough the tool was firmly imbedded in the soft flesh between the shoulder and the collarbone. Inuyasha would live. Miroku slightly loosened his grip on Nazuna but made sure to still have full control over the prone girl. "What should we do with her? We can't just let her go."

Inuyasha sighed in relief and sat back down. Miroku wouldn't commit murder because of him. He raised his right hand and lightly pressed it around the imbedded weapon. He winced in pain but kept his hand in place. "I don't know," he sighed, "but I don't want to kill her. I don't want to kill a girl."

Miroku looked at Inuyasha in fear. The screwdriver couldn't directly kill his friend but the blood loss would weaken him. And the last thing Inuyasha needed was to be weak. He had to get the weapon out. Which meant he had to think of a solution to Nazuna quickly. His eyes landed on Inuyasha's bag. Or more specifically the bag's straps.

"Inuyasha? Buddy I need your help for a second," said Miroku. He hated himself for making Inuyasha work but it couldn't be helped. He had to stay with Nazuna.

"What do you need me to do?" asked Inuyasha softly.

"Could you possibly use your sword and cut off one of your bag's straps?"

Inuyasha barely nodded and crawled to his bag. He drew out his sword and started sawing at one of the straps. Two minutes later he dropped the sword and held up the freed strap. He painfully crawled to Miroku and handed his friend the strap.

"Thanks Inuyasha. You can rest now. I can do the rest."

Miroku cautiously got off of Nazuna while making sure to keep the gun pointed at her. He knelt beside her. "Roll onto your stomach," he demanded gruffly.

Nazuna started at him, hate clouding her eyes. "And what if I don't?" she retorted.

Miroku moved his gun until it was pointed between her eyes. "Then I pull the trigger," he said coldly.

Nazuna gulped and rolled over. The last thing she wanted to do was listen to her captor. But that changed when he threatened to kill her.

Miroku roughly grabbed her hands and jerked them until they rested on her lower back. One part of him couldn't believe how he was treating someone, especially a girl, so roughly. But that part paled in comparison to the part of him wanting to get revenge for Inuyasha.

Miroku kneeled on the back of Nazuna's legs. He ignored her yelps of pain. It was the only thing he could think of to keep her still when he put his gun down. When he was positive Nazuna couldn't move without hurting herself he put his gun down. He grabbed the strap and tied Nazuna's hands tight. It wasn't tight enough to cut off the circulation but she definitely wouldn't be removing her bonds anytime soon. When he was done he grabbed his gun and stood up.

"Now get up and leave," he said. "Maybe you'll be lucky and run into a friendly person who can free you. Or maybe you'll run into a much less forgiving person then Inuyasha. I seriously hope for the latter. You tried to kill Inuyasha, in my book that's worse then if you tried to kill me. You don't hurt my friends and get away with it. So you're lucky Inuyasha has a good heart. Because if he didn't you would be dead right now."

Nazuna glared up at Miroku and unsteadily rose to her feet. "I don't give a fuck what you hope. I'll fee myself. And then I'll find you again and finish the job I started," she spat before turning on her heel and walking away.

Miroku pointed the gun at her back. His hand trembled in anger but he was able to recover and lowered his arm. He had more pressing at hand then an idiotic girl.

He turned back to his friend and rushed to his side. He dropped to his knees beside Inuyasha. His gun dropped to the ground, forgotten for the time being. "Inuyasha, are you with me?" he asked worriedly.

Inuyasha opened his eyes. "Yeah. You can't get rid of me that easily. Where did Nazuna go?"

"I don't know. I tied her hands behind her back and let her go. I still don't know why she attacked you."

"Miroku, don't be stupid. You know as well as I do why she tried to kill me. She's playing the game. She wants to live. The only way for her to win is to kill everyone."

"But we all want to live. Hell, I really want to live. But we're not going around killing people."

"I think it's because we have someone to care about. We care deeply for Kagome and Sango. We don't want to turn into monsters for their sake. We're holding onto our sanity by thinking about them. I don't think Nazuna has anyone like that. The only person she was fighting for was herself."

Miroku nodded in understanding. "You're right. Now that you say that I feel sorry for her. Sorry that she has no one to fight for. Do you think we did the right thing by letting her go?"

"We had no choice. She tried to kill me, we wouldn't be able to get through to her. We did the only thing we could." Inuyasha groaned in pain and raised his hand again. Before he could press it against his shoulder Miroku had grabbed.

"We need to get that screwdriver out of you," said Miroku. "Until it gets out there is no way for the bleeding to stop." Miroku placed his hands on Inuyasha's shoulders and gently pushed his friend to the ground. He looked around the ground and finally picked up a stick that was about a 3/4 inch thick. "Here, put this in your mouth."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know how much it will hurt when I pull the screwdriver out. The last thing we need is for you to bite your tongue off."

Inuyasha, not liking that idea, opened his mouth. When Miroku placed the stick in it he clamped his mouth tight.

Miroku sighed shakily and moved until he was kneeling by Inuyasha's injured shoulder. He placed his left hand around the screwdriver. He looked at Inuyasha, silently seeking permission to pull the tool out.

Inuyasha nodded to Miroku. He couldn't disguise the fear that was plainly evident in his eyes.

Miroku took a deep breath and grabbed the handle of the screwdriver with his right hand. Then while pressing firmly down with his left hand had pull up with his right. The screwdriver didn't budge. Miroku heard Inuyasha scream around the stick. He clenched his teeth and once again pulled, but this time he put all his strength into it. The screwdriver slid out. Miroku looked dazedly at the bloody tool. Then he dropped it as if it burned him.

Inuyasha, eyes closed tight, spit out the stick. "Is it out?" he asked shakily.

"It's out," replied Miroku.

Inuyasha opened his eyes and painfully sat back up. His left arm hung down lifelessly and his right hand pressed against his open wound. "Now what?"

"Now we bind it."

"With what?"

_Good question,_ thought Miroku. There was nothing in their bags they could use. But they could use the bag itself. "Stay here," he said.

Inuyasha laughed unevenly. "Don't worry, I don't think I'll be running off anytime soon."

Miroku ran to where he had dropped his bag. He grabbed it and ran back to his fallen friend. He quickly threw all of Inuyasha's stuff into his bag. Then taking the sword he sliced up the empty bag.

Grabbing the makeshift bandages Miroku went back to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha took one look at the bandages and groaned. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"Nope!" said Miroku.

"Great."

Miroku folded up one cut piece until he formed a 3 by 3 inch square. He placed it over the bleeding wound. Then deciding to be safe he folded another piece of cloth, this time in a 5 by 5 inch square. He set the bigger square over the smaller one. Taking one of the strips he had cut he wrapped it over and under Inuyasha's shoulder. He tied it in a crude know in the back of Inuyasha's shoulder. Then taking the longest strip he had he tied Inuyasha's left arm close to his body. The strip went from the upper arm to his opposite side.

"Hey!" cried Inuyasha indignantly. "I can't move my arm!"

"Yes, I know. That's the point. The more your arm moves the harder it will be for your wound to heal."

"I thought you didn't know what you were doing," said Inuyasha crossly.

"Oh don't worry, I don't. But what I said sounds logical, right?"

"Why am I not comforted?" grumbled Inuyasha.

Miroku grinned and stood up. He held out a hand for Inuyasha. Inuyasha grudgingly accepted it and was hauled to his feet.

"Want to resume our search of the girls?" asked Miroku.

"More than ever."

Miroku swiftly stuffed the extra bandages into his bag. He picked up his gun and Inuyasha's sword and stuck them both into his belt. He threw his bag over his shoulder and looked at Inuyasha. "Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Then let's go play hero."

========

Sigh, it seems like each chapter gets progressively longer. What's sad is that I was going to add more to this chapter, but when I looked it was already 9 typewritten pages. I figured that was enough for today. I would probably the say the next chapter will be out this weekend. See you then!

Review Responses:

**Chaoticxsky: **Heehee, was the eye description a little sick? Well glad you thought it was a good description! If you thought it was disgusting then I guess I did all right!

**Guardian of the Hell Gate:** Heehee, glad you like the disgusting chapter! And I'm glad you like it that I don't pull any punches, and I don't plan on starting! And if you felt sick then I guess I did a good job, since that's what I was aiming at!

**Draconic ban-sidhea:** Haha, don't worry about not reviewing for chapter 6. I wouldn't want you getting caught because of my story! And I don't know how far the Kouga group will get in their escape plans, or if they'll even think of any! Since right now there are sort of walking around completely clueless.

**Tanoliko:** I agree with you, I think it would be weird to be in a mall during and have the lights flicker. It just seems so un-mall like. Heehee, yes, the world can always use a few good sensitive men. And I guess Hojo fits the bill! And I would hate to stumble on the mangled remains of Mayu. Who knows how bad she would smell...hmm, maybe I'll have someone do that! Well hope you had a fun time in school! I start in 6 days so I'm getting sad. And don't say you're only a halfway decent reviewer, you're awesome! I love getting reviews from you!

**Somone:** glad you like it!

**TLC Kitsume:** Oops, I'm sorry. I meant to email you, I swear I did! And I think I wrote your address down like three times. And every time I would go to email you someone would either IM me or my dad would say "get off, I need my computer now" and so of course every time I would lose the paper I wrote your address on and it would all start over. Sigh, I'm sorry! And to be honest, I have no clue where you can find this book. My brother bought it a couple of years ago and I have no clue where he got it from. But if you buy stuff online then amazon should have it, they have everything! And don't worry, Naraku will die. How could I let such an evil person live? That would be horrible! But as for how I'll kill him, well you'll just have to wait and see!

**Mewie:** Yup, I figured that anything could be used as a weapon. Which is why I don't get airline security. They'll take away fingernail clippers (which IMO is stupid) but they'll let you keep any pens and pencils you have. You could very easily stick a pencil through someone's eye. But oh well, some things I'll just never understand! Glad you liked the Yuka scene, it is sad when you think how they'll probably end up but I won't think about that until it's time to write it!

**Rae-wolf-demon:** Yup, it sure is a small world! I can't believe you know where Eau Gallie is, that's pretty cool! But seriously, there was a guy in my physics class last semester and I found out that we were both military brats. And talking to him further I found out that we were born the same year and month at the same air force base in the same hospital! And he was only born 5 days before me so it was highly likely that both of our mom's were in the hospital at the same time. And also possible that they even walked by each other. I thought that was sort of cool.

**Lady-of-the-darkness:** Heehee, that would put a strain on dinner, picking up your food and then imagining an eyeball on it! And I'm glad you liked the gory part, see? I try to listen to my readers. You wanted some gore, so you got some gore! Aww, you started school? I go back to class on Monday. It's going to suck because I have the schedule from hell. Sigh.

**Animecutie:** That's ok about the lack of reviewing. I know fanfiction can be a pain in the ass! And no promises about whether or not more than one person will win, you'll just have to keep reading!

**Moonglow gal:** Thanks! I decided to take it as a compliment. And are you happy to see what's going on with the Inu gang? Inu got stabbed! How could I do that to him? Bad author, bad author. Well here's your update, hope you enjoyed it!


	9. Strength

Hey all, so sorry for the long delay. But I started college so most of my free time is gone. As you've experienced first hand, my updates will be slowing down. I'll try not to let more than 2 weeks pass between updates, but it will all be based on how much work my teachers pile on. Stupid college.

Well anyways, this chapter we will be jumping around between quite a lot of characters. And the chapter is also very light on the dialog. And this chapter also had about 4 different versions, I took more time revising the stupid thing than actually writing it. Well hopefully you all will enjoy!

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**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 8: Strength

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**September 24, 2004: 12:00 AM**

**22 Students Remain**

A soft trail of moonlight filtered through the front windows of an abandoned house. A house that used to be full of a loving and happy family. A family that was later forced to leave their house at gunpoint. All because of the Battle Royale.

As the family trailed after the other inhabitants of the island they silently prayed. They prayed that their house could become a refuge for a student that would be forced to participate in the Battle Royale. And so they had intentionally left their back door unlocked. The soldiers were forcing everyone to lock their doors. But while the soldiers weren't looking this family managed to sneak an unlocked door past them. They fervently hoped that a student would come across their house and discover the unlocked door. That maybe the student could find safety and comfort in their house. That maybe the student could feel the traces of love that graced the interior of the house. And just maybe the student would remember that many people loved them.

The family's prayers were answered. Their house had become a refuge. But not just for one student, no, their house was a refuge for two. Two innocent schoolgirls who were thrown into this nightmare just six hours ago. Two girls who already witnessed the death of three students. One of who was already forced to kill. The girls now sat by the front door of the house. One kept watch out the window framing the left of the door. The other watched out the window framing the right. Every now and then one of them would steal a glance towards the other. One girl's head was beginning to nod; she was fighting sleep and was beginning to lose.

"Sango, get some sleep," suggested the tired girl's companion.

Sango jerked awake. She silently cursed herself for nodding off. "I can't Kagome. Not yet at least. It's almost midnight, that damn announcement is supposed to be coming pretty soon."

Kagome sighed and went back to looking out the window. "All right. But as soon as the announcement is over you are going to sleep. I'll take the first watch."

"What about our game of rock, paper, scissors?" asked Sango with a slight grin.

Kagome laughed lightly. "Oh yes, I almost forgot about that. How about instead of rock, paper, scissors for sleeping rights we use it for something else."

Her interest piqued Sango stared at Kagome, awaiting an explanation for the odd statement.

"We'll play the game, and whoever loses has to treat the other to a huge dinner once we get off the island."

Sango's eyes lowered. "Kagome, only one person can get off the island."

Kagome whipped her head to Sango, her eyes blazing with anger. "So that's it?" she said between clenched teeth, "you're giving up just like that? Kazuhiko said only one survives so you believe him? That's what he wants to believe Sango. He wants us to think there is no hope so we kill each other. Don't believe him Sango. Don't believe that bastard. We're getting off this island. Don't let anything else cross your mind except survival and getting off this shitty piece of land."

Tears threatened to overflow from Sango's eyes. Her shoulders slightly shook as she tried to hold them in. "I'm sorry Kagome," she choked out, "but you're not the one who killed somebody. I did. When I saw Hiten's lifeless body fall to the side of me all hope I had of escaping left. I don't see how we can beat Kazuhiko at his own game."

Kagome's eyes softened at the sight of Sango's quiet sobs. She mentally slapped herself. She had brought her friend to tears by her outburst. And Sango rarely cried. And she was the one who caused her best friend to cry. Kagome reached out a hand and grasped one of Sango's. "Forgive me Sango. I had no right to yell at you like that. I'm just so stressed right now. I keep thinking I saw a figure flitting around the trees. And every time it was just a figment of my imagination. I took my anger on the situation out on you, I'm sorry."

Sango squeezed Kagome's hand and smiled sadly at her. "Don't worry about it Kag. If you weren't stressed I would think something was wrong with you. But I know what you mean. My heart has jumped at least ten times since we've been keeping watch. Just the slightest movement frightens me. The breeze making the trees branches sway makes me think somebody is in them. Just stalking us. Just waiting for us to put our guard down so they can kill us."

Kagome opened her mouth to respond to her friend when a crackling was heard. Both girls jumped and tightened their hold on the other's hand. A little shriek escaped from Kagome's lips.

"Hello class!" came a booming voice from outside.

"Kazuhiko," whispered Kagome in anger, calming down when she realized they were still safe. However, she didn't loosen her hold on Sango's hand. And neither did Sango.

Unaware of how much he frightened the girls, and if he was aware he would have been happy, Kazuhiko continued on with his announcement.

"I am here with your first announcement of the game. I hope you are all having fun. Isn't this a beautiful island for your final moments to be decided? I truly outdid myself this year. Twenty-five of you will die in a beautiful location."

Rage replaced the fear in Sango's eyes. _That bastard...it's like he's talking about a location of a party! He's fucking insane!_

Kagome, realizing what would be coming, pulled out her map.

"I'm going to start off with your classmates who have died. You guys started off pretty good, four of your classmates have died. They are Hiten Kotohiki, Manten Kotohiki, Mayu Kuronaga, and Midoriko Ogawa. Now your beginning was good so don't start slacking off. There are still 21 students who have to die, so you're not safe yet!"

While Kazuhiko was talking in an entirely too cheerful voice Sango had gotten up and ran into the house's kitchen. Kagome heard her friend rummaging around. Sango came out a few seconds later, holding up a pen. Kagome smiled in appreciation and took the pen. She held in poised over the map in anticipation of Kazuhiko giving the new dead zones.

"Now here is the important part. You may want your maps out for this. I'm going to give you the coordinates of each section that will become off limits in the coming six hours. Make sure you are out of them by the appointed time. Or else you'll be treated to a lovely explosion which will also mark your end of the game. Are you ready? Here we go!"

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Kazuhiko's voice filtered out of the woods and surrounded every student on the island. "First coordinate will be B3. This area will be activated at 1:00 AM."

Sesshoumaru quickly poked a small hole in B3 with a stick he had grabbed. He glanced over at Rin and saw her quivering form. He desperately wanted to reach out and comfort her but he had to continue listening for the dead zones. And he couldn't blame her for being frightened. After all, they were currently in area B3.

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"At 2:00 AM the area of E8 will become activated."

Kouga smudged area E8 with some dirt. Ginta and Hakkaku looked over his shoulder and watched in silence as the island slowly became smaller.

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"Area D3 at 3:00 AM."

Yuka, with a marker that was found in the house, slowly drew an X through D3. All she and her friends were hoping for was that B8 didn't become a dead zone.

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"F3 becomes a dead zone at 4:00 AM."

Inuyasha leaned against a tree while Miroku marked off the new dead zones. He couldn't help but smile wryly when Miroku would dab his finger in his blood soaked shirt and then mark on the map. It seemed him being injured was good for something.

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"At 5:00 AM C5 is activated."

Naraku used the dagger he had found in Midoriko's bag. He used the tip to rip through the map. He was pleased about the dead zones. It would make it easier for him to hunt out his classmates.

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"And finally, at 6:00 AM area H6 is a dead zone. At that time I will be back with the next announcement. Happy hunting."

With a cruel chuckle Kazuhiko clicked off the intercom and the island plunged into silence.

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Kikyo silently folded up her map and returned it to her bag. She rezipped her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Stooping she picked her sickle back up. And then she just stood still. She had no clue what she was doing or what she was suppose to do. She gripped her sickle but the weapon felt odd in her slender hands. When she first discovered it she had taken a few practice swings. Each time she stumbled and lost her balance.

Kikyo stared blankly at her weapon. She had considered it dropping it at least five times by now. She had actually dropped it every time and walked a few feet away. But every time she would turn around and retrieve it. And each time she had changed her mind her dislike for herself grew. After all, the only reason she would need a weapon would be if she planned on attacking one of her classmates. And no matter how much she disliked someone she would not want to kill them. Since like her they had done nothing wrong except being in the wrong class at the wrong time. No one was at fault except Kazuhiko and the government. And even if someone were at fault Kikyo still didn't think she would be able to kill them. She was a quiet and gentle person by nature and found it hard to even harm a defenseless fly. For that reason she now stood on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

Kikyo was on the western side of the island, specifically on the bluffs of the D1 area. She had gone there immediately after she was released. For the past three hours she had thought about jumping and releasing herself from the game before someone could do it for her. She thought that suicide would be better then this continuing madness and chaos. But just as she couldn't abandon her sickle she couldn't jump. She couldn't will herself to take the fateful step that would send her plummeting to her death. Since unlike with dropping the sickle, the step would be irreversible. Once she took it there would be no turning back. One wouldn't think it would be that hard. After all, it was just a step. Just lifting your feet and stepping onto air. But as Kikyo would find out, that one step would prove to be harder to take then the act of burying her sickle in the back of one of her unsuspecting classmates.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Shippo poked his head out of the bushes he was cowering in. His hands trembled in fear as he replaced his map in his bag. But then his hands had been trembling since this whole nightmare had begun. He had probably pinched himself at least ten times. But each time the pain was real and he stayed firmly imbedded in the nightmare.

Shippo desperately wanted to find someone he could trust. He didn't want to face the nightmare alone. But there was no way of finding someone he could trust. What would likely happen was he would find someone and then die. Especially since all he had was a seven inch knife.

"I'm as good as dead," he sobbed quietly to himself. As the tears slowly made their way down his face he thought back on another nightmare that was also real for him.

_Flashback_

An eight year old Shippo glanced nervously around him before tossing the lid off a trashcan. He quickly rummaged through it and grinned in triumph when he pulled out a half-eaten sandwich. He sat down and began inhaling the food. When he heard heavy footsteps stop in front of him he looked up nervously. His heart fell. It was him.

"You little fuckin' runt. What do you think you're doing eating?" said the towering man in a menacing voice. "You can eat after you earn $50 for me. Until then you starve." The man cruelly ripped the sandwich out of Shippo's hands and smashed it with his foot.

Shippo's face crumbled when he saw the sandwich disappear under the man's boot. Tears sprang to his eyes and his stomach growled in protest. He was so hungry.

The man smirked and yanked Shippo up by his hair. When Shippo dared to squeal the man silenced with a hard slap to the face. "Remember," the man breathed in Shippo's face, "I killed your parents and I will have no problem killing you."

Shippo shrunk away from the alcohol-laden breath. The man laughed and threw Shippo mercilessly to the ground. Without a second look at the whimpering boy he left.

Shippo picked himself off and walked dejectedly down the street, not bothering to wipe the tears from his face. It had been like this for the past six months. The man, Keita, had killed his parents. His parents had taken him out to see a movie. They had gotten back from the movie too soon. Keita was in the process of robbing their house. Instead of just running away when they got home Keita had pulled out a gun. And he had shot Shippo's parents point-blank in their faces. Shippo cringed in horror as he watched his parent's faces explode in front of him. Keita had then glanced down the boy. And instead of shooting him as well he had slung Shippo over his shoulder and left the house.

Ever since that fateful night Shippo had been forced to steal for Keita. The only times he was able to eat was when he came back with $50. And then Keita normally only gave him rice and water. And Keita knew that he had the poor kid. Shippo was only eight, he wasn't old enough to escape or to want to die to be rid of the abuse. So Shippo had been stealing for Keita for the past six months. And the starvation Shippo went through clearly showed on his pale and gaunt frame. His shoulder blades jutted severely from his body and his face was sunken. He even walked like an old man who was tired of life.

Shippo was so lost in his thoughts he completely missed the young girl he walked by.

"Did that mean man hurt you?" piped up a small voice from behind him.

Shippo jumped and whirled around. A small girl in a yellow sundress was sitting on a front porch eating a handful of cookies. Shippo's mouth watered at the sight of food.

The girl noticed Shippo's hungry gaze and smiled. "You want some?" she asked while holding out a cookie.

Shippo was about to nod when he changed his mind. He didn't want this girl to get involved. "Thanks," he croaked out, "but I have to leave now."

He was turning to leave when the door behind the girl opened. The girl's mom stepped onto the porch.

"Who are you talking to Kagome?" asked the mom gently.

Kagome smiled and pointed at Shippo. "Him mommy. Can he stay for dinner? He looks so hungry and he won't eat any of cookies." Kagome stared forlornly at her cookies. She couldn't understand how anyone could reject a cookie.

Kagome's mom smiled. "Of course dear." She stepped off the porch and walked to the frightened boy who appeared to be homeless. She crouched in front of him and smiled warmly. "Hello dear. Would you like to stay for dinner? We love guests."

Shippo stared at the friendly woman. She reminded him a lot of his own mother. At that moment he missed his mom more than ever. He wanted to be held and comforted by her. He wanted his mom to wipe his tears and tuck him into bed at night. To sing him soft songs and tell him bedtime stories. To give him the bowl to lick when she was done baking a cake. He just wanted his mom. Fresh tears sprang to Shippo's eyes. He was surprised when the woman carefully wiped them. She didn't even know him and yet she was being so kind. Shippo made up his mind. Keita would not rule him any longer. He nodded his head.

Kagome's face lit up and she jumped up with joy. She rushed down the steps and joined her mother and Shippo. "My name's Kagome. What's yours?" she asked brightly.

Shippo smiled shyly. "My name's Shippo. Umm, could I have a cookie?"

Kagome giggled and gave Shippo the rest of her cookies.

_End Flashback_

Shippo sighed deeply. After that dinner with Kagome's family he had went to the police. They caught Keita a few days later and Shippo was freed from that terror. He was also put into a foster home. Kagome kept in touch with him and they became friends. But Shippo was adopted a couple of months later. And the couple that adopted him lived in a different school district then Kagome. Thus they went to different elementary and middle schools. They remained friends but they almost never got to see each other. In that kind of situation friends tend to drift apart. And that's what happened to Kagome and Shippo. The more years that passed the less they talked to each other.

They wound up going to the same high school and even wound up in the same class. But by that time Kagome had her group. She had three really good friend. She was still friendly to Shippo but then she was friendly to everyone. On one level Shippo wanted to renew his friendship with her. But on the other level he wanted to leave her be and not intrude upon her happiness. The side that said leave her alone won out. Shippo knew he would always love her as a friend, after all she had given him a new shot at life. But he thought that his part in her life was over. Kagome had saved him from Keita, he didn't want to ask anymore from her.

Shippo let out an insane chuckle. True, he was saved from the torture of Keita. But for what purpose? To be thrown into the Battle Royale to be killed by one his classmates. When Shippo was released from the law office he had immediately found some underbrush and hid in it. He was seriously considering just waiting in it until a student happened to stumble upon him and finish off his pathetic existence. But that was until the first announcement came.

When Kazuhiko's cold voice filtered out of the hidden speakers Shippo was reminded of Keita. He remembered the terror of being in that situation and the fact that Kagome saved him from it. He now thought of Kagome on this island. The thought of that sweet, caring girl partaking in this nightmare. He realized that at any moment someone could kill her. The thought of his rescuer and hero dying made his heart throb painfully.

With a start he realized that he had never thanked her for saving him. He knew Kagome wouldn't care if he thanked her or not. But suddenly it was important for Shippo to find Kagome and thank her for giving him a new shot of life. It was important for him to find Kagome before he died. With a newfound strength surging through his body Shippo stood up. _I don't care what happens to me. But I cannot allow anyone to harm Kagome. She saved me from Keita. And I can finally repay her by saving her from our classmates._

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If you couldn't tell, I decided to base Kikyo's personality in this story on how she was before she died. So she won't be a bloodthirsty animal out for Inuyasha and Kagome's blood. Sorry to disappoint all of you Kikyo haters, but there will be enough people to hate in this story so there's no need to add another. Well I'm out. See you sometime (hopefully soon) with the next chapter.

Review Responses:

**Guardian of the Hell Gate:** Thanks for the review, and no worries about being easy please. I'm a very easy person to please as well. As well as easy to entertain. It doesn't take much to make me laugh, but hey, life's more fun that way!

**Tanoliko: **Aww, I'm sorry Inuyasha getting stabbed made you sad. But don't worry, he'll survive...maybe...or maybe he survived to just die at the hands of another student. Heheheh...hmm, I sound sort of evil talking about Inu dying so casually...oh well, guess it's fun being evil. And I guess I am evil when you think about, after all I'm writing a fic about everyone killing each other. There has to be some kind of evil in that. At least a little evil, right? I wanna be evil. Cuz then when people see you they would run away scared. That would be kind of cool.

**Draconic Ban-sidhea:** Guess what? This was the first I typed your name without having to check the spelling about 3 times! Yea! Let's break out the beer and party! Any excuse to party. And will Inu be among the last few characters standing? Hmm...::ponders deeply then stops when head starts to hurt:: Sorry, brain malfunctioned, guess you'll just have to wait and find out!

**Lady-of-the-darkness:** Hmm, yeah, I guess boring teachers does make a bad schedule. But I have to sit with some of those boring for 3 hours while they lecture about crap I don't care about...at 7 PM. Now that sucks. A lot. I'm fighting sleep practically the whole time. And I guess I'll guess the book you're going to buy...hmm...I'm going to guess _The History of Barney._ What? I'm not right? Oh come on, I have to be right! I'm always right! Well, it was worth of try, I wonder if there even is a book called that. If there is it should burn in hell.

**Stargirl:** Hmm, I couldn't compare Battle Royale to Lord of the Flies cuz I've never read 'Flies. And as for all those characters making it out alive, hehehe, you better start praying hard cuz most likely it won't be happening! Sorry about that, but I don't plan on having that many survivors. But thanks for the review!

**Lilaznmiko22892:** What would I do in that kind of situation? Probably go insane and paranoid. I don't think I could last that long in that kind of situation, but then I doubt many of us could! I do know one thing, I highly doubt I could kill someone, unless if I was put into a situation like Sango, then I could probably similar to her. Well thanks for checking out my story!

**Mewie:** Glad you liked the Mir/Inu interaction. They're trying to act normal since that's pretty much the only way to avoid going insane. But you can bet that the girls are never far from their minds. And you're right, I'm trying to give everyone a reason behind killing another. I don't just want everyone running around committing senseless acts of murder, because a) I highly doubt that would actually happen and b) there wouldn't much a story if that did happen. And as for Naraku, I'm kind of making him like that big baddie in the book, Kazuo. Kazuo had no emotions and just killed everyone, so I'm modeling Naraku after him.

**Shadow-Wolf-Jedi-Demon:** Wow, I'm flattered that you thought about my story that much! Ooh, I'm so happy now. And as for your Kouga request, I'll see what I can do about it. I've had another person request an honorable death for Kouga as well, so I'll probably be granting those requests.

**Moonglow gal:** Hehe, yeah, just about everyone is scared shitless in this story. Except for Naraku. Stupid ass, he's entirely too cool about this. And Inuyasha is ok...for now! ::insert evil laugh here::

**Shadow-kitten:** Well thanks for giving my story a chance even with the lack of reviews. It seems that most people don't like reading about the characters dying. What a pity. And thanks for the flattering remarks, I'm so glad you think my story is awesome! And this chapter had Shippo for you. Hope you enjoyed reading about him! Although with you being a Shippo lover you may not have liked how a made his past, but what can I say, I couldn't resist!

**Animecutie:** Yeah, the main characters will all be at least a little OC. I'm trying to keep them as much with their anime personalities as possible, but with the plot of this story, and them being just normal 9th graders, they are bound to be a little OC. But don't worry, you won't suddenly be seeing Naraku getting all warm and cuddly, he'll definitely be the big baddie just like he is in the anime! Well thanks for reviewing again, I definitely appreciate it!


	10. Memories

I'm really really really sorry for taking so long with this chapter. I can't believe it took over a month to get this chapter to you guys. ::bangs head on table:: I'm such a bad authoress. I hope you don't hate me. Well, in hopes of making it up to you this is my longest chapter so far. And it features heavily everyone's favorite demon lord. Who is not a demon lord in this story...but that's beside the point. I hope you enjoy it.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 9: Memories

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

**September 24, 2004; 12:20 AM**

**22 Students Remain**

Jaken barreled through the trees, not caring who happened to hear him. He was furious. Sesshoumaru didn't even try to find him. Jaken knew he had taken off with that annoying girl as soon as she came out of the law office. He just knew that had to have been the case. Jaken gripped the handle of his axe tighter and continued his search of them.

Jaken Mimura was a short kid with a very bad acne problem. His face was almost drowning in pimples and he even had a few warts thrown in for good measure. He was also built like a twig, almost no muscle, or fat, to speak of. He wore thick rimmed glasses which made his eyes appear a lot larger than the actually were.

Jaken's idol was Sesshoumaru. He wanted to be just like him, tall, well built, and handsome. He loved the fact that Sesshoumaru was the star player of the basketball team. He loved it so much that he had begged the coach to let him become Sesshoumaru's personal assistant. He would do anything to get closer to his idol. He was ecstatic when the coach said he could. So Jaken made sure to always have fresh water and cool towels at all the games. During practice he would fetch all of Sesshoumaru's balls. And on rare occasions he was allowed the privilege of washing his uniform. Jaken loved it.

That was the reason Jaken was now fuming at Sesshoumaru. Jaken did everything for him and he couldn't even wait for his assistant. Jaken blamed it on Rin. He believed that Rin was trying to turn Sesshoumaru against his ever faithful assistant. _That girl, she will pay for poisoning Sesshoumaru's mind against me. I'll make sure she will pay._

It never occurred to Jaken that Sesshoumaru didn't think of him as a friend. That idea seemed preposterous to Jaken and so it never crossed his mind. It didn't even register in his mind that Sesshoumaru knew Rin longer than he knew his assistant. He just assumed that since he did so much for Sesshoumaru it would make sense that Sesshoumaru would value him as a friend.

Jaken now made his way north. He didn't know why he chose north, but it felt right. It felt like something was pulling him to travel north. After awhile he decided it was because he and Sesshoumaru had such a close bond that he just knew where his idol was. This caused his chest to swell with pride. He couldn't wait to find Sesshoumaru, he was positive Sesshoumaru would be thrilled to have his loyal assistant on his side. He would realize the girl was useless and get rid of her. Then Sesshoumaru and him would find a way off the island. His hands itched in anticipation of finding his idol. He swung the axe a few times through the air. For a second he saw the girl's face in the path of the axe. He realized he had a smirk on his face.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sesshoumaru shined his flashlight on the map one more time. Content they were out of B3 he clicked off the light and put it and the map back into his bag. He looked at the tired girl currently yawning beside him.

"We can rest now, we're in B4."

Rin glanced at Sesshoumaru with drooping eyes. "Are you sure? Should we go further just to make sure?"

Sesshoumaru sighed. He was completely positive they were out of B3, in fact he was pretty sure they were at least a ¼ of the way into B4. "We can go a little further if you'd like," he responded. He wanted Rin to rest but knew she wouldn't be able to if she were afraid they were in a dead zone.

Rin nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that," she said.

Sesshoumaru gently grabbed Rin's upper arm and led her through the forest. He had to have a hold on his friend, she was so tired she was on the verge of tripping over any branch that happened to be in her path.

For another 15 minutes the two friends walked silently through the trees. After the 15 minutes passed Sesshoumaru stopped. "Rin? We are going to rest now. There is no chance we are in B3."

Some tears sprang to Rin's eyes. "How can you be sure? Did you pass a sign that said 'Leaving B3, Welcome to B4'? Hmm? Did you?" she asked, her voice rising in volume. "Shit Sess, I don't want to die! I don't want to go to sleep only to have my fuckin head blow off! I don't want to go to sleep to never again open my eyes and see you!"

Sesshoumaru drew the now hysterical girl into his arms. The shotgun fell forgotten to the ground, there were more important matters at hand then worrying about self-defense. "Shh, we're not going to die," he soothed.

Rin clutched his shirt and sobbed into his chest. The feel of the collar wrapped around her throat caused her to panic. She knew in it there was a bomb just waiting to go off. She wanted to claw at it until it came off, but she couldn't. Kazuhiko said it would explode if they messed with it. She didn't know if he was telling the truth or lying just to scare them. But she knew one thing. She wasn't going to find out.

Sesshoumaru rubbed her back in small, comforting circles. The exhaustion and stress of this situation had finally overwhelmed his friend. And if it wasn't for remaining strong for Rin he was knew he wouldn't be handling the situation as well as he had been. As it were he had been calm and collected the whole time. The only time he had come close to panicking had been when Kouga had threatened Rin. And that had been panic for Rin's safety, not for his own.

"I'm sorry Sess," came Rin's muffled voice. "I'm sorry for acting stupid. You would probably be better off by just abandoning me. You stand a higher chance of dying the longer you stay with me. I don't want to be the cause of your death. I couldn't handle that."

Sesshoumaru pushed Rin away from him. He placed one hand beneath her chin and forced her eyes to meet his. His eyes were blazing with anger, it was the only emotion that he showed. Rin quivered slightly at the amount of anger visible in his eyes, she couldn't recall a time when he had ever shown this much anger towards her.

Sesshoumaru's voice shook slightly when he spoke. He was trying to contain his anger and what Rin had just suggested. "I didn't think you were being stupid. I didn't blame you for breaking down like that. I could never blame you. It's Kazuhiko I blame. But, now you are being stupid. You are telling me to abandon you. That is the stupidest thing you have ever said. How could you even suggest that? I would be nothing without you Rin. Nothing. We are in this together, no matter what happens. You are the one person I would do anything for without thinking about the consequences. You are like my little sister, you're the only family I truly feel I have. So don't you ever suggest something like that again. Have I made myself clear?"

Rin thickly swallowed and nodded her head. _How could I have ever said something like that? Sess wouldn't see it as him abandoning me, he would see it as I abandoning him. How could I have said something so heartless and cruel to him? I'm horrible... _Fresh tears sprang to Rin's eyes and she flung herself into Sesshoumaru's arms. "Oh Sess, please forgive me! I don't know why I said that! I'm so sorry!"

"There's nothing to forgive Rin," said Sesshoumaru softly. "And I know why you said that. You're exhausted and stressed. You're practically falling asleep on your feet. No matter what you say you are resting now. And if you are still concerned about us being in B3 then I'll carry you. But you are going to rest." Sesshoumaru spoke in a voice that left no room for argument.

Rin smiled weakly at Sesshoumaru. "Fine, you win. In both things. We can rest now and the fact that we are in B4."

"Good, I'm glad you finally see it my way," he replied while stooping to pick up his shotgun. He pointed the gun at a thick tree. "We'll rest against that. You sleep first, I'll take the first watch."

Rin followed Sesshoumaru to the tree. They sat down side by side and leaned back against the tree. Almost in unison they sighed. Sesshoumaru smiled and Rin giggled softly.

"Hard to sleep when you're laughing," said Sesshoumaru gruffly.

A normal person would have thought that was a cruel thing to say. But Rin knew him. She leaned her head on his shoulder. "You big dummy," she teased. "You made me laugh so it's all your fault."

"Hard to sleep when you're talking," replied Sesshoumaru, a smirk now planted on his face.

Rin jabbed his side with her elbow. "You're an idiot. But I love you for it anyways. Good night my big idiotic, overprotective brother."

Sesshoumaru wrapped his arm around Rin's small shoulders. It was the only comfort he could offer to his friend. Rin took it gladly and was soon sleeping.

Sesshoumaru kept his free hand on the shotgun. His eyes and ears were alert for slightest threat of danger. But his allowed his mind to wonder. He thought of the sleeping girl beside him who didn't leave him back when that incident occurred. She stayed faithfully by his side throughout it all. He was positive she had saved him.

The incident happened when they were in 6th grade. Sesshoumaru was deep into his dark, brooding nature at that point. Rin was worried for him, she knew what was going on at his home, she knew why he never talked to anyone except for her. Knew why he was depressed.

_Flashback_

Sesshoumaru entered the classroom and walked directly to his seat beside Rin. He made eye contact with no one even though his seat was in the back. He sat down and immediately crossed his arms over his chest. He stared blankly into a wall.

Rin looked at him worriedly. "Sess, did he do it again?" she asked, loud enough for him to hear but soft enough so no one else could.

Sesshoumaru said and did nothing. He kept his face impassive. He had learned long ago that if he showed no emotion he couldn't get in trouble.

Rin wasn't fooled in the least by him. She gently grabbed his arm and rolled up his long sleeve. When she saw the bruises marring his skin she clenched her jaw and rolled his sleeve back down. "Sess, you have to tell someone! You can't just let him continue to do this to you!"

Sesshoumaru shrugged his shoulders. "I'm used to it by now."

"That's wrong. You should not be use to your dad hitting you."

"He's not my dad. He's my step-dad."

"I know that, but that makes no difference. You can't allow him to do this to you."

Sesshoumaru said nothing. There was nothing to say.

When he was in kindergarten his mother discovered that his dad had been cheating on her. She divorced him and won custody of Sesshoumaru. His mother immediately moved them to Tokyo. That was when Sesshoumaru entered Rin's kindergarten class. At that time he had still been confused, as well as hurt, that he wasn't able to see his dad anymore. He would hear his classmates talking about their dads and he would grow silent, which was the main reason why he was always so silent. He didn't want anyone to know that he was fatherless.

But he found a kindred spirit in Rin. Sesshoumaru knew the best thing that ever happened to him was when he finally decided to talk to the girl who was following him around. They became fast friends and his life was looking up for awhile. Then a year later his mother remarried. His name was Akito, and Sesshoumaru hated him.

Akito treated him like a slave, constantly pushing Sesshoumaru to work harder and faster. His mother had no power over Akito, if she tried to help Akito would threaten her. Sesshoumaru soon grew to be exhausted, he would go to school everyday with bags under his eyes and sore muscles. He was never in the mood to talk to anyone, after all, no one else was living like him. No one would care. No one but Rin. She was the only one he would talk to, she was always there for him. If anyone else ever tried to ask him something or talk to him he would ignore them.

Then in 4th grade Akito hit him for the first time. In the beginning of the abuse Sesshoumaru would fight back, if not physically then with words. But the more he fought the harder Akito hit. So he quickly learned to bite his tongue and say nothing that could lead Akito to hit him more or harder. He eventually learned to withdraw in upon himself, he would be awake, Akito would be hitting him, but his mind would be elsewhere. It was the only way he could get through it. He also became a pro at hiding his injuries from everyone, classmates and teachers alike. The only person he couldn't fool was Rin, she had known him so long she could tell whenever something was off.

At first Sesshoumaru tried to pass it off as nothing, he tripped on the stairs, he fell out of bed, any excuse to avoid talking about Akito. He was afraid she would pity him, he was afraid she would think he was weak. He couldn't handle it if his best friend thought that of him. But she eventually found out. And Sesshoumaru discovered that it was a good thing she found out. He discovered just how loyal of a friend she was. Whenever someone would comment on Sesshoumaru's appearance or attitude she would immediately jump to his defense. Whenever he would bite someone's head off at school with his harsh words she would talk to the person so they wouldn't be angry with him. She knew she was taking he anger he had for his stepfather out on his classmates. If it weren't for Rin he would have truly been alone.

But in 6th grade his home grew to be even more horrible. He discovered that Akito was hitting his mother as well. Just last night he had been beating her up when Sesshoumaru intervened. Akito grabbed his arm and threw him into the wall. And then when he was finished with his mom he had continued with Sesshoumaru.

"Sesshoumaru," began Rin."

"Just shut up, all right? I don't want to talk about it," he snapped, recrossing his arms and facing away from Rin. He immediately regretted his words but he didn't feel like apologizing. He didn't feel like talking.

The rest of the day Sesshoumaru stayed silent. Anger and hate for Akito was brewing in his mind. Rin had tried a few times to talk to him, but every time he would either completely ignore her or tell her to shut up.

After school he decided to walk home. His home was a good 10 miles away, but he didn't care. He didn't want to go home. He didn't want to face Akito again.

He had finally arrived home at 8:30. As soon as he walked in the door he knew something was wrong. The house was completely silent. Normally the TV would be on or his mom and Akito would be yelling. He dropped his backpack on the floor and began the slow trek upstairs. When he reached the second story he could hear faint sounds coming from the master bedroom.

Something urged him to walk to the bedroom. Something inside told him to reach out and open the door. Inwardly he knew he shouldn't, he knew that whatever would meet his eyes would be horrible. But he did it anyways. He opened the door.

A sight that would haunt his nightmares for years greeted him. Blood was spattered over the walls and Akito was wrapping the still body of his mother in a sheet. He could see the blood staining the sheet; he could see the bullet holes in her chest. He saw the pistol lying forgotten a mere 5 feet from him.

Akito looked up at the sound of the opening door. "Where the fuck were you all day?" he growled. "I've told you before to come straight home after school. I've fuckin told you that before!"

Sesshoumaru flinched at Akito's raised voice. But then something in him snapped. He saw his mother's lifeless body. He heard Akito yelling at him saying he was going to kill him. He heard Rin's soft voice telling him everything would be all right.

"You're right Rin," he mumbled under his breath. "Everything will be all right, if Akito is dead."

"What the fuck did you say?" said Akito dangerously. He dropped Sesshoumaru's mother's body and rose to his full height. "I said, what the fuck did you just say? Look at me and answer the fuckin question!"

For the first time in over a year Sesshoumaru met Akito's glare head on. For the first time he felt strength surging through his body. "I said, everything will be all right. If you're fucking DEAD!" he shouted right before diving for the pistol.

Akito dove at the same time. Sesshoumaru reached it first. As he fumbled with the foreign object Akito tackled him. The next moment was a blur for Sesshoumaru. All he remembered was Akito punching him in the face. He remembered pulling the trigger; he had no idea where he had it pointed. A deafening bang, and then silence. He opened his eyes, he never realized he had closed them, and saw Akito holding a hand to his bleeding abdomen.

Akito glared at the boy. "You fuckin brat! Give me the fucking gun! Give it to me NOW!"

Sesshoumaru felt like someone else was controlling his body. He saw his arm raise the pistol until it was pointed at Akito. He saw his finger resting on the trigger. His mind silently screamed at him to put the gun down, to get out, to not shoot again. But Sesshoumaru's body wouldn't listen. His finger pressed the trigger again. He saw Akito's body lurch backwards. He dropped the gun and ran from the room.

Police arrived about 15 minutes later. The neighbors had called in reporting gunshots. The police broke down the front door and found Sesshoumaru shaking in the corner of the family room. They soon discovered the dead bodies of Akito and his mother. When they checked Sesshoumaru they saw the bruise forming on his face from Akito's last punch. They saw the bruises and scars all over his body.

No one blamed Sesshoumaru for what he did. In fact, very few even knew of what really happened that night. At school it was told that his parents had died in a car accident, as that was the easiest path to take. Only Rin knew what really happened that night, and it would stay like that.

He went to live in a foster home. His real dad didn't want him, as he was happy with his new wife and son. And Sesshoumaru was so cold and withdrawn that no one would adopt him. No one wanted him.

To fight the depression that was taking him over Rin suggested he start playing basketball. So almost everyday after school Rin would go with Sesshoumaru to the basketball courts and play with him. Most of the time there was very little conversation, but it didn't matter. Just the fact that Rin was still with him after she knew what he had done was enough. Sesshoumaru wouldn't trade her friendship for anything.

Their endless hours of playing the game paid off. Sesshoumaru made the school's basketball team every year. His depression started to lift. He still wasn't a social person. He didn't want anyone else to find out about that fateful night back in 6th grade. The only person he talked to was Rin. But then, she was all he needed.

_End Flashback_

Sesshoumaru sighed and tried to chase the memories away. It wouldn't do any good to drag them back up. It was over. It was in the past. He was over it. He still had Rin, that's all that mattered. Most of his classmates thought he was cold, no one could understand why Rin liked him so much. But that was a secret neither one would divulge.

It was really quite simple. Both had saved the other, both had given the other a new chance at life. If not for the other neither one would have made it. They shared a bond nothing could break or even damage.

Sesshoumaru relaxed against the tree. He listened to Rin's gentle breathing and felt the memories wash away. Someone walking through the woods caused him to jump.

Rin immediately opened her eyes and glanced at Sesshoumaru fearfully. "Sess? What's wrong? Why did you jump?"

"I heard someone," he whispered. He gripped his shotgun and stood up, Rin following him.

"What should we do?" she asked, gripping Sesshoumaru's shirt tightly.

"Let's just wait. Maybe they'll pass us without seeing us."

It didn't look like they would be so lucky as to have the person pass them by. The sounds got louder and they were coming in their direction.

Sesshoumaru quickly picked up his bag and motioned for Rin to do the same. He had decided to try and slip by in another direction.

Rin reached down to grab her bag. However, her hands were slick with sweat and she failed to get a good grip. She lifted it about a foot and then it slipped from her grasp. The resounding crash echoed through the woods. They had given away their location.

Sesshoumaru quickly reached out and pulled Rin behind him. There was no chance of escaping unnoticed now. He held the shotgun up.

A shadowy figure stopped about 30 feet away. They couldn't make out who it was.

"Rin? Is that you?" called out a tentative voice.

Rin stopped shaking and stepped around Sesshoumaru. "Who is it?" she called out.

"If I come out will you shoot?"

Rin glanced at Sesshoumaru and he reluctantly lowered his gun. "We won't shoot. Come out."

The figure moved and stepped into the small clearing. The moonlight filtering through the trees was enough to make out the student and their appearance.

Rin gasped. It was Yura. And she was covered in blood.

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I hope you guys don't hate me for doing that to Sesshoumaru. But I was trying to think of a plausible reason for him to be so cold and withdrawn. Heh...that's the best I could come up with. But I wonder if him killing Akito will come back to haunt him later...hmm...I wonder...And I also wonder what Yura is going to do...hmm...Well, in hopefully good news I believe I know how most of next chapter is going to go, so once I start writing it it should come out with little or no trouble. So I'm hoping to have it done in 2 weeks maximum. None of this month long waiting, I still can't believe I did that to you guys. Sorry again.

Review Responses:

**Guardian of the Hell Gate:** Heh...sorry this update took so long. Hope you still like my story!

**Moonglow Gal:** Hmm, actually, I wouldn't mind knowing what you do when you get angry. Since I'm pretty sure at some point you will be angry with me, so I need to know how to defend myself against you. Well, I hope you're still enjoying this story!

**Mewie:** Hehe, I'm glad you're finding the map useful. I know I wouldn't be able to survive this story without it. And I'm also happy that you liked the intro to both Shippo and Kikyo. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, even though it took a long time coming!

**Draconic ban-sidhea: **Hehe, your library doesn't carry Battle Royale? You know, somehow that doesn't surprise me...not only is it a foreign book but it is pretty controversial as well. I think the only way you'll be able to read it is if you go out and buy it, but it is worth the money. I've read it 3 times now, and it's still a good book!

**Tsuki no mizu:** I'm glad you're liking this story! Wow, it left you speechless? I'm sorry I took so long with this chapter, hopefully you're still reading it!

**Shadow-Wolf-Jedi-Demon:** Hehe, I'm glad you like the twists I'm throwing in for you. I hope you liked this latest one. And your sister is taking 19 credits? Wow, I feel sorry for her. I used to be taking 17 credits...then I dropped my english class, so I'm down to 14 now. And I can't remember, did I send you a map or not? Well, I'm glad you're liking this story, I hope you continue to read it!

**Shadow-kitten:** I'm glad you liked Shippo's past, and don't worry, there will be more Shippo soon. I'm sorry about taking so long to post this chapter, I hope you'll forgive me some day. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Lilaznmiko22892:** Hehe, awesome, I'm so glad you read Battle Royale now. That's one reason why I wanted to write this story, get more people to read that book! I've read the book, and I have the first manga, but I don't think I'm going to continue with the manga. The book is just so much better. And you are correct, Naraku is the Kazuo copy. My fav characters were Shinji, Shuya, and Shogo, all three were completely awesome in my opinion. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Wolfgrlmac:** Hehe, I hope you didn't stare at the computer screen until I finally updated. That would have been awful. I'm glad you liked the way the dead zones were read off, I was actually thinking for quite awhile on how to have them read off. Thanks for the review and hope you liked this chapter.

**Gizmo369:** Yeah, I know exactly what you mean about Kikyo. I don't care for her, but I really can't bring myself to hate her either. I just keep thinking that she was a victim just like how all of Naraku's other targets were. Well, I'm glad you're enjoying the story!

**Animecutie:** Hehe, yup, I am an authoress, it would be quite weird to see a guy with the name 'deppfan'. Or actually, the correct word to use would be 'scary'. Heh, sorry for taking so long with this chapter, I hope you're still reading and liking it!

**Luckykittykagome:** All right, I'm going to give you a phone number, I want you to call it immediately. Ready for it? It's 1-800-I-NEED-HELP. Got it? Yes, I do realize that it has too many numbers, but it's a special place you are calling, so they are allowed more numbers. Now you go there, and tell them deppfan sent you cuz you laughed at a story where everyone was going to die. They ought to be able to help you...

**Lady-of-the-darkness: **Haha, I guess it's a good thing people like you aren't in this story. There wouldn't be much of one. Everyone's head would just blow up! Wow...that sounded kinda cold...hehe. Well, I hope you're still enjoying this story, thanks for the review!


	11. Despair

Well, I did a little better this time, right? Only 3 weeks for this chapter. For some odd reason I just wasn't motivated to write this story. Took watching a music video by Velvet Revolver to motivate me. That's kinda strange, huh?

And in case you didn't notice (although it is kinda hard to miss) I changed my penname. I was tired to Deppfan...so I changed it. Makes sense, right?

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 10: Despair

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**September 24, 2004: 12:45 AM**

**22 Students Remain**

Inuyasha leaned heavily against a tree and attempted to catch his breath. His shoulder felt like it was on fire. And it still hadn't stopped bleeding. The crude bandage Miroku had made was soaked through with blood and it was beginning to drip down his shirt. It hurt like hell.

Miroku looked at his friend worriedly. The screwdriver must have done more damage than he had originally thought. _Of course Nazuna didn't exactly stab him gently. And then the first time I tried to take it out I failed, which of course would cause more damage. And then when I finally pulled it out I probably caused additionally damage as well. And of course the screwdriver couldn't have been one of the skinny ones. No, it had to be thick._

"Fuck Miroku, your damn bandages are doing shit," groaned Inuyasha while tenderly kneading his injured shoulder with his free hand.

"Sorry Inuyasha, but it seems I've failed to discover the art of mending a hole with a bag," replied Miroku dryly. "I did the best I could with what was available."

"I know. Well, no use complaining. Let's continue our search," said Inuyasha while straightening back up.

"You sure? We can take a break if you need it."

Inuyasha quickly shook his head. "No need to do that. That will just waste time. This wound isn't deadly, merely an inconvenience."

"Inuyasha, you're in pain. And an inconvenience can get you killed. You are not alert because all of your attention is focused on your shoulder. You're walking with your head down. And you have no weapon. You could have your sword back but unfortunately your free hand is too busy clutching your shoulder to carry it. You can't go on like this."

Inuyasha glared at his friend. "So I'm a hazard to your health I take it? Fine, than continue on without me. I'll catch up eventually."

"That's not what I meant," sighed Miroku. He pulled out his map and held it so Inuyasha could see too. "We're somewhere around F5. The doctor's office isn't even a mile away from us. We could make it there in less than an hour. I'm sure there will be something there we can use to ease your pain and the bleeding. After that we can renew our search of the girls."

"But we're so close to the houses," said Inuyasha. "What if they're in the houses?"

"Inuyasha, I wish to find them as soon as possible too. But we also cannot allow your condition to worsen. You haven't failed to notice that your wound is still bleeding; the longer it is allowed to bleed the weaker you become. We have to go to the doctor's office."

Inuyasha closed his eyes tightly. He sighed in resignation and reopened them. "Fine, you win. We go to the doctor's office. But we walk fast, take no breaks, and spend as little time as possible in the office. Got it?"

Miroku smiled and clapped his friend on his good shoulder. "I wouldn't have said it any differently."

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"Yura!" exclaimed Rin while rushing to the girl's side. "What happened? Are you ok?"

Yura allowed a few tears to fall down her face. "Oh Rin! I'm so glad I found you! I'm so scared!"

Rin placed a comforting arm around Yura's shoulders. She led the distraught girl to the tree she had been sleeping against. "Here, sit down and tell us what happened."

Yura lowered herself to the ground. She inwardly smirked. "It was horrible," she began while staring at her hands. "The twins, Hiten and Mantan, found me. They...they...they wanted to kill me!" she said in a rush.

Rin gasped and brought a hand up to her mouth. "No! How did you get away?"

"They were arguing. Mantan wanted to kill me fast and be done with it. Hiten...he wanted to have some fun first and then kill me."

Rin pulled Yura into a hug. "You poor girl! You must have been terrified!"

Yura sniffled and nodded her head. "While they were arguing I managed to sneak my weapon out of my bag, I got a hammer. I held it behind my back. Hiten eventually won the argument. He walked over to me...he was grinning and practically licking his lips. When he reached me he grabbed my waist. He...he...kissed me. While he was kissing me I swung the hammer and hit him in the head. His blood...sprayed all over me. When he fell to the ground Mantan immediately jumped at me. He scratched my face and punched and kicked me. I was scared. I started kicking my legs. I got a lucky kick between his legs. As soon as he was off me I ran away as fast as I could."

Rin stared at the girl in shock. She couldn't believe how brave Yura was. She never could have done any of that. "You must be exhausted Yura. I can't believe you've already gone through all of that. You can sleep now, me and Sess will keep an eye out for you."

Yura smiled gratefully at the girl. "Thank you Rin. I knew I could trust you."

Rin smiled one last time before standing back up and walking to Sesshoumaru. Yura relaxed the tree and shut her eyes. But she wouldn't sleep yet.

_I can't believe how easy that was. Rin is so gullible. I could have said anything and she would have lapped it up like a thirsty dog. I'm not so sure about Sesshoumaru, but Rin will most likely convince him to trust me soon enough. All I have to do is bide my time and they'll both be mine_.

"Can you believe all she's went through?" said Rin softly.

"No, I don't believe it," replied Sesshoumaru stiffly.

"I know, it's incredible. She is so strong."

"Rin, you misunderstood. I meant no, I really don't believe her. She's hiding something. And whatever it is isn't good."

Rin looked shocked. "How can you not believe her? Why would she lie to us?"

"Rin, what is the purpose of this game?"

"So you believe she's playing?"

"I don't know what to believe. But I find it hard to trust Yura so fast like you did."

"So now you think I'm being stupid?"

Sesshoumaru grabbed both of Rin's shoulders and looked right into her eyes. "I never said that. But I am playing safe. I don't want to trust everyone we come across. Trusting the wrong person could get both of us killed."

"You trusted Kouga easily enough. What makes Yura any different?"

"Plenty. Kouga had the opportunity to kill you but he released you as soon as I put down the gun. Yura has yet to have the opportunity to kill us. I've been holding the gun since she's arrived. If she was playing she wouldn't have had the chance to kill us yet."

"What do you think we should do?" asked Rin. She understood what Sesshoumaru was saying. It didn't mean she didn't trust Yura anymore, just meant that she would humor her best friend.

"Only one thing we can do. Keep watch over her. Don't let her be the only one awake."

Rin sighed. "Fine, we'll watch her. But I'm still positive she is to be trusted."

Sesshoumaru didn't reply. He sat against a tree across from Yura. He leaned the shotgun against his shoulder and stared at the supposedly sleeping girl. _I know you're awake. And I don't believe a word of your story, except that you killed someone. You forgot to take the pieces of teeth out of your knuckles and I'm sure if we find Mantan's body his mouth will be completely intact. Your eyes betray you. They are cold and calculating, not fearful like someone in your story would be. You won't get a chance to kill us. I won't let you._

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Kouga turned his head to look at his trailing companions. "Tired already?" he joked.

"You can't get rid of us that easily," replied Ginta, quickening his pace so he was walking alongside Kouga.

"Besides, someone has to watch your careless ass," remarked Hakkaku, opting to stay in the rear.

"Aww, aren't you so sweet and caring," cooed Kouga. "My heart is swelling with my love for you." He batted his eyelashes at Hakkaku.

"You pull off the flirting girl too easily. That worries me," said Hakkaku with a grin.

Kouga stopped walking and when Hakkaku caught up he quickly punched him in the shoulder.

"Ooh, nice comeback Kouga," said Ginta.

"Very," agreed Hakkaku. "And do you have any idea where you are taking us? Did your thick head come up with an idea yet?"

"Hey, I don't see you smart asses thinking of any ideas," retorted Kouga.

"That means no," whispered Ginta to Hakkaku.

Kouga rolled his eyes. "If either of you taken the imitative to look at a map you would have guessed where we are headed. But of course since you are both lazy slackers I shall tell you. We're going to the hills. I'm hoping that if we climb to the top of one we can get a better picture of the land. And that hopefully it may miraculously give one of us an idea on how to get off this island."

"Yes, that makes sense," said Ginta thoughtfully.

Hakkaku clapped Kouga on the shoulder. "Way to go. I knew that eventually you'd have to have a good idea. And I must say, this place is a good place to start having them."

Those words sunk into all three of them and silence settled between them all. They were trying hard to keep the mood light. The last thing they wanted or needed was for depression to take over them. Depression would pretty much sign their death wish. And so ever since they left Sesshoumaru and Rin the conversation had been light. They talked about sports, girls, cars, anything except the island and Kazuhiko. To start down that path would be too destructive.

Ginta looked down at his butcher knife. He turned the deadly blade until he could see his reflection in it. He wasn't surprised to see that his eyes had taken on a haunted look. Even with the strive for light conversation the game was never far from his mind. He was constantly searching the surrounding areas for any glimpse of another student. He couldn't help but smile wryly at the sight of his wilted mohawk. Only a couple of the spikes were still standing straight up, the others were all on their way to collapse. And his previously immaculate blonde hair was now covered in dirt and it even had some leaves stuck in it. And he hadn't even been out here for seven hours. It was insane.

"Hold up guys," said Hakkaku suddenly.

Both Kouga and Ginta froze. Ginta brought the knife up. At the sight of his friends Hakkaku couldn't repress a slight chuckle from escaping his lips.

"Relax, I just have to take a leak."

"You idiot," growled Kouga. "There are better ways of telling us that than how you did."

"No kidding," scowled Ginta.

"Heh, sorry about that. I'll think of a better way to say it next time," said Hakkaku before disappearing behind a tree.

"Damn straight you will," grumbled Kouga. While waiting for Hakkaku to finish up he pulled out his map.

"So where are we?" asked Ginta.

"I believe we are in either F3 or F4. F3 doesn't become a dead zone until 4:00 AM so we're still safe if that is where we are. If we continue east we should eventually come to the hills. Then we just start climbing."

"Great, let's continue on," said Hakkaku coming out to join them.

Kouga put the map away and reshouldered his bag, and once again took the lead. For 30 minutes they walked in silence.

Ginta suddenly reached out and grabbed Kouga by the shoulder. At the surprised and worried look of his friend he quickly explained, "I think I saw a shadow a little to our left. And it looks like there is a clearing over there as well. You think someone should check it out, you know, to make sure if there is someone they won't sneak up on us?"

Kouga nodded. "Yeah, that sounds logical. All right, I'll go. You two stay here."

"Hold on, why you?" asked Hakkaku. "There's a slight risk to the person who goes. So I'll go."

"I think I'm the one who should go since it was my idea," argued Ginta.

All three friends stared at each other, worry clouding their eyes. None of them wanted to go. But then none of them wanted to send their friends in their place.

"Well, why don't we all go in at different places?" suggested Hakkaku.

"That would be the best," agreed Kouga.

Once that was decided on the three made their way to the small clearing. They split up but kept within seeing distance of each other. As one they stealthily made their way into the clearing.

It was occupied. Kouga stumbled backwards into a tree. Hakkaku yelled in surprise. Ginta fell to the ground and vomited.

The bloodied and single-eyed body of Mayu stared sightlessly up at the night sky. Her mouth was opened in what looked like a slight grin, but her teeth were broken and blood was pooled in her mouth. Flies had already discovered her body and were crawling around her empty eye socket. Luckily the body was still fresh enough so it didn't smell.

"Oh fuck," moaned Kouga when he found the missing eye. He fell to his hands and knees and threw up.

Ginta wiped his mouth and crawled to Kouga. "I think...that was a bad idea I had."

"No kidding," said Hakkaku, joining them as well.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," said Kouga, leaning back against a tree.

Ginta, eager to leave the clearing as fast as possible, jumped up and hurriedly left. Hakkaku grabbed one of Kouga's hands and pulled him to his feet. They left the clearing but when they got out they didn't see any sign of Ginta.

"Fuck, where did he go?" mumbled Hakkaku, his eyes scanning the surrounding forests faster and faster. _Dammit Ginta, why did you have to take off like that? What if there actually was someone out there?_

"Ginta!" shouted Kouga. _Screw secrecy, we have to find him._

"Over here guys!" came Ginta's voice, slightly muffled as it moved through the trees. "I found the hills!"

"You bastard! Why did you run off like that?" yelled Kouga.

"Sorry, but I thought I saw someone through the trees so I moved closer to investigate. Instead of a person I found the hills. Are you guys coming?"

"Why the fuck would he investigate on his own?" mumbled Hakkaku.

"Same reason why you or I would. To prevent possible harm to our friends," replied Kouga.

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it any less stupid."

"You guys walk slower than my grandmother!" shouted Ginta. "Are you coming?"

"Yes we're coming. Don't get your panties in a knot," yelled Hakkaku. "Damn, he always was the impatient one," he said a little quieter.

Kouga snickered under his breath. "Damn, how far away did he get? We weren't that far behind him."

"He probably ran and forgot about it. So he thinks it should take us the same amount of time to get there," replied Hakkaku wryly.

"I heard that!" said Ginta in annoyance, his voice a lot clearer. "So that's why you guys are taking so long. You're complaining about me? Nice friends you ungh!"

Hakkaku's eyes grew wide with fright when Ginta stopped talking with a grunt of pain. "Ginta?" he shouted. When he heard no response he grew frantic. "GINTA!"

Kouga grabbed Hakkaku's arm and took off at a dead sprint to where they had heard Ginta yell. They saw the hills through the trees and sped up. They soon saw Ginta on his hands and knees. When Ginta heard them he lifted his head.

"Get out!" he hoarsely said.

"Not without you," replied Kouga, kneeling by his friend. "What happened to you?"

Hakkaku leaned his friend back and both he and Kouga gasped in shock at what they saw. A throwing star was firmly imbedded in Ginta's chest.

"No fuckin way. I'm fuckin dreaming. This isn't real," mumbled Hakkaku as he stared at the throwing star.

Kouga's eyes grew red with rage. He saw Ginta's abandoned butcher knife and picked it up. He rose to his feet and slowly scanned the surrounding area. "Whoever the fuck did this get your fuckin ass out here NOW!" he shouted in rage.

"Kouga! NO!" shouted Ginta vainly. Kouga ignored him.

"Who the fuck did this?" screamed Kouga, his hand clenching the knife so tightly his knuckles were turning white.

"Kouga, whoever did it is probably no longer here," said Hakkaku gently. He was sitting behind Ginta and cradles his friend's body against his.

Kouga turned to his friends. "Who did it?" he asked dangerously.

"Ka...Kagura," said Ginta softly before lurching into a coughing fit.

The knife fell forgotten to the ground as Kouga dropped to his knees beside Ginta. "What do we do?" he asked frantically.

"I...I don't know! It's in his fuckin chest!" yelled Hakkaku in a panicked voice.

Kouga saw blood beginning to dribble down Ginta's chin. "Shit, let's turn him on his side so the blood can drain."

"Blood? Drain?" said Hakkaku, his face turning white.

"Internal bleeding," responded Kouga while gently rotating Ginta so the blood could drain safely out of his mouth. "Has to be lungs with where the star is."

"That's...that's not deadly, is it?" asked Hakkaku softly.

"Hakkaku...don't be a fuckin moron," coughed out Ginta. "I'm dying, both of you know that. It would be hard for a doctor to save me at this point."

Tears dripped down Hakkaku's face onto the back of Ginta's shirt. Ginta felt them. "Hell, don't you be crying for me. Sooner or later one of us was bound to die. I'm glad it was me and not one of you."

Hakkaku pulled Ginta into his lap and embraced him from behind. "Why are you so fuckin impatient?" he cried softly.

"Guess that's my curse," replied Ginta, leaning his head against Hakkaku's shoulder. "Fuck, it hurts."

Kouga sat in front of his two friends; the tears falling freely down his face. His hands gripped his thighs tightly. He knew Ginta was dying. Knew his friend was almost dead. He never knew it would hurt this much. He could do nothing for his friend. He was powerless. Completely powerless. There was nothing at all he could do to help Ginta. "I'll kill her Ginta. I won't stop until Kagura is dead," he said, his voice dripping with grief and anger.

"Don't do that to yourself Kouga. Don't worry about revenge," said Ginta. He closed his eyes.

"Ginta? GINTA!" yelled Kouga, grabbing both of Ginta's shoulders.

Ginta opened one eye. "Yeah, I'm still here. But shit, it feels like I'm slowly drowning."

"It was his lung," said Hakkaku in grief.

Kouga made eye contact with Hakkaku. Hakkaku closed his eyes tightly and nodded. It almost looked like that slight nod pained him.

Kouga cleared his throat. "Ginta...you can let go now. We know you're in immense pain. Who fuckin knows how you managed to hold on for this long."

Ginta opened his eyes and smiled weakly at Kouga. "Both of you get off this island."

Kouga nodded as he couldn't trust his voice not to break.

"Thanks," whispered Ginta. His eyes closed and his body relaxed in Hakkaku's arms. Kouga could almost see the tension leaving his friend's body as he watched. He picked up one of Ginta's hands and felt for a pulse.

"Is he...?" trailed off Hakkaku.

The pulse was faint but still there. "No."

Both Hakkaku and Kouga remained in that position. Hakkaku embracing his dying friend and Kouga monitoring the pulse. Neither would leave until they knew it was over. They would give Ginta the comfort of dying in the arms of his friends.

Kouga felt the pulse weakening and slowing as the minutes dragged on. With a start he realized he didn't feel one any longer. He pressed his fingers deeper into Ginta's wrist. He felt nothing. His eyes widened in fear and his hands shook. He felt for a pulse on Ginta's neck. Nothing. Placed his hand over Ginta's heart. Nothing. He gave a strangled cry and jumped up. He stumbled in a daze to a tree. Drew back his fist and punched as hard as he could. "NOOO!" Kouga fell to his knees and leaned his forehead against the tree. Sobs silently wracked his body.

Hakkaku watched but didn't move. He realized he was now holding a dead body. But it didn't matter. It was still Ginta. Hakkaku clutched Ginta tighter. When Ginta's lifeless head rolled forward Hakkaku immediately eased it back onto his shoulder. He sat like that for a few minutes before gently lowering his friend to the ground. He stood up and felt his knees quivering. He walked over to Kouga and knelt down beside him. He threw one arm around Kouga's shoulders and leaned his forehead against the side of Kouga's head.

Kouga didn't move. They didn't know how long they stayed in that position. No words were uttered; silent comfort was all they offered one another. They silently grieved over the loss of their friend. And the loss of hope.

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Aww, the first death of a good person. Well, Midoriko was good too, but you never got to hang out with her. So, the first death of a good person who was actually played a part in the story. Nothing is working out for anyone in this story. Sess and Rin are in the midst of a traitor. Inu and Mir have to take a side trip before they can find the girls. And Kouga and Hakkaku just lost Ginta. Poor guys. I think they all need a hug. Well, I'm not going to predict when I'll have the next chapter out as last time I said 2 weeks and it wasn't true. So, please review, and I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible.

**Review Responses:**

**Mewie: **Aww, you were getting worried? Heh, didn't mean to worry anyone with my prolonged absence! And yeah, I don't know if Sess would have gotten away that easily...but I didn't want to go into his past in that great of detail with lawyers and everything. So I slacked. Hahaha, guess I shouldn't give Yura a pen, eh? Who knows what she could do with it!

**Guardians of the Hell Gate:** Yea! You're still with my story! Heh, sorry about not updating soon...but my motivation for this story left me for a little bit. You can thank Velvet Revolver for getting it back!

**Silverkitsunekagome:** Ooh! For one of the all time bloodiest movies, Kill Bill 1 has got to take the prize. That movie was so awesome. But I found much of the violence funny...does that make me morbid? Oh, I'll check out your one-shot, I just haven't gotten around to it yet, but I shall!

**Draconic ban-sidhea:** Heh, you're right, you shouldn't have to choose between Battle Royale and Inuyasha. You should get them both for free. That would be the best. Glad you liked the explanation of Sess's past, I was hoping that die hard Sess fans wouldn't want to hunt me out and kill me for doing that to him. But everyone thought it was good, so I guess I'm safe...at least for a little bit. Now, when they start dying...I may have to run for cover!

**Keirra-shadowcat:** Heh, thank you for letting the late chapter slip by this once! Hmm...and will anyone get off the island? Maybe there will be a victor and everyone but one person will die. Or maybe someone will think of a great idea and save the day. I guess you'll just have to wait to find out! Hehe, glad you liked the Jaken description. Such a slime he is.

**Suzie:** Hehe, so glad you love this story! And sorry about my slower updating, this time wasn't cuz of college, but cuz of lack of motivation. I've said it before, but I must say it again, god bless Velvet Revolver for giving my motivation back to me.

**Momo:** Cool, this is the only horror story you like? Well, it is kinda unlike the other horror stories out there. No vampires or bloodthirsty monsters. This is horror cuz it's scary that a bunch of 9th graders are trying to kill each other. Like a real kind of scary instead of a supernatural scary. Heh, I hate real horror stories, well, horror movies. I love reading scary books, but I can't watch horror movies. They freak me out so much!

**Animecutie:** Heh, well, happy belated birthday! I couldn't get it up for your birthday, so hopefully this will do! And don't worry, I shall never forget about this story. If I ever have a prolonged absence like I did it just means I'm either busy or lost motivation for a little bit. But I shall always come back to it until this story is complete. Hehe, such an abundance of faces you have. The only one I ever use is this one: Well, thank you for all of your compliments, you were so nice in your review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Bold eyes:** Hehe, one of those lazy days where you don't want to sign in? I have those a lot. But then, I'm one of the biggest slackers and procrastinators you could ever meet. Glad you enjoyed the last chapter. Well, it looks like Inu and Mir finding Kag and Sango will be postponed for a little bit as Inu's shoulder just won't stop bleeding. Stupid Nazuna and her evil screwdriver!

**BabyLemon:** Awesome, animecutie led you to my story? I'm glad you gave it a chance and even happier that you like it! And don't worry, I won't ever give up on this story, I love it too much to just stop writing it! Hmm, I don't even know if Kouga had a crush on Kagome, I've been trying to decided on that for quite awhile now, but haven't come to a decision yet if I'm going to include Kouga's infatuation with Kag in this story. Well, welcome to my story, and hope you continue to enjoy it!

**Hart:** Haha, don't worry, you didn't offend me at all. In fact, it's cool being called a sick twisted bitch when it comes to this story! Heh, glad you love this story, and yet, you absolutely must read Battle Royale. My story is nothing compared to the actual book. And yeah, a dinner fork would be a good weapon, especially if you aim for the soft parts of the body...like the eye! The throat would also be another good place to aim, that's nice and soft and easily torn. Haha, thanks for wishing me luck with the killing, such a cool thing to wish someone luck on!

**Brittanga:** Yeah, I think you're right. I don't quite remember how all the minor characters died. But I took the non-Inuyasha first names, and most of the last names, from the class list in Battle Royale. Heh, I'm not creative enough to come up with my own Japanese sounding names.

**Luckykittykagome:** Haha, guess you're just too big of a nutcase for even them to deal with! And don't worry about taking so long to review, I'm just glad to have you back. And groundings definitely suck, I haven't been grounded in like...5 years now I think, but I remember when I was...and it sucked. Haha, nice halloween costume. A pixie stick...eating pixie sticks. I'm guessing you were on a sugar high for the party? Hehe, and don't worry, the disturbing work shall continue, I think I'm sick though...I enjoy writing about pain and gore and grief. I think I may need those doctor's help!

**Misguidedangel:** Hehe, glad you like my story even with the goriness at times. You got a little bit more in this chapter, hope it didn't bother you too much!


	12. Mourning

I'm so sorry guys (but you're sick of hearing that, huh?). I pretty much disappeared for over a month. Either school was being a pain in the ass or I had writer's block. But hey, school is over now. Winter break! Yay! And I believe I have my creativity back. But…my computer's firewall is all screwy right now so my computer time is exceedingly limited. Which is another reason why this chapter took so long to get up. But anyways, that's my problem, so you guys get on to the chapter now. Enjoy!

xXxXxXxXxXx

**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 11: Mourning

xXxXxXxXxXx

September 24, 2004; 1:15 AM 

**21 Students Remain**

**Recently Deceased: Ginta Kawada**

Shippo trudged through the woods. The idea of finding Kagome had seemed a good idea at first. But once he started walking he realized he had no idea how to find her. The island wasn't all that big. But when you were trying to locate someone on foot it proved to be huge.

Shippo wiped the sweat from his brow and once again pulled out his map and compass. He had to make sure he didn't accidentally pass into D5 as he was currently walking through D6. If he walked to far to the west…well he wouldn't have to worry about finding Kagome as he would be without a head.

When Kazuhiko had made the announcement Shippo had been in C4. Once he made up his mind to find Kagome he had decided to look south of the law office. There was a higher probability of Kagome being south of him as there was a lot more land to the south. But he didn't want to walk directly south as that would have forced him to walk through a mile of open area. Shippo wished to avoid open areas as much as possible. So he went east through C4 and C5. He cut close inside of C6 and entered the forested area of D6. After D6 he would be in the hills. After the hills he would search the forests on the south part of the island. Followed by the houses. He knew the chance of him finding Kagome paled in comparison to the chance of him finding an enemy. But he figured that if he died while searching for his friend it would be more commendable than if he died while in hiding.

Shippo had already come to terms to the fact that this island would be his final resting place. He wasn't going to hold onto the false hope that perhaps Kazuhiko was too cocky and there was a way off the island. He wasn't going to attempt to kill Kazuhiko. He wasn't going to try and round up his classmates in an attempt to defy Kazuhiko. No, Shippo wasn't going to play hero. He wasn't going to even pretend to be a hero. He knew he wasn't one. So why pretend to be someone you know you aren't?

He knew some would think he was trying to play hero for Kagome. And maybe that was true. But then Kagome was the only one he would want to play hero for. After all, once a long time ago she had played hero for him. So really, Shippo was only repaying his debt to her.

The only wish Shippo has was that when he did die it would be quick and painless. He didn't want to drown in his own blood. He didn't want to be in pain. He just wanted it to be quick. He hoped that if there was a higher power then it would hear him and grant him his one wish. His life had already been harder than most of his classmates; he hoped it wouldn't end horribly. He hoped his last moments on Earth wouldn't be full of torture. He knew he would die. Now the only question was how he would go out.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hojo looked at Yuka, clear admiration for her shining in his eyes. "You know, that just might work. It's at least worth a try. We really should try your plan."

Ayumi and Eri quickly nodded their agreement. Yuka sighed.

"Perhaps," she said. "But it requires at least dome of us to leave the safety of the house to gather supplies. And if we fail then everyone will know our location. There are a lot of risks to go along with my plan."

"Yuka, look at where we are," said Hojo. "This whole island is a big risk. Everything we do has a risk to go along with it. At least your plan gives us something to work on. It gives us something to do to prevent us from just sitting around, waiting to die. This gives us a little hope. And you know what? I'm going to grab whatever hope I can and hold on for dear life. I'm going for it."

Ayumi grinned. "I couldn't have said it any better myself. Count me in."

Eri looked at her three friends all staring worriedly at her. "Hey, I want off this hell hole as much as all of you do. And if I can take down Kazuhiko while I'm at it than I'm definitely going for it."

"Then it's settled," said Hojo. "We're all in. Now what do we do next?"

"Well, we need to get supplies," said Yuka. "The store is only a half mile away from here. We can go there and bring back what we need."

"Do you know what kind of store it is?" asked Ayumi.

Yuka shrugged her shoulders. "Beats me. But I figure if this is the only store on the island it has to have a little bit of everything in it."

"Makes sense," agreed Hojo.

"So now the question is, what do we need, and who goes," said Ayumi.

"Well, I'm definitely going since I need to see what the store has to offer to decided what we need," said Yuka.

"I should be the other who goes," said Hojo. "I can carry more than any of you so it would make sense that I would go to the store."

"So Eri and myself stay here," said Ayumi in slight anger. "And do what? Sit on our asses while you guys are out risking your lives? I don't really care for that idea."

"Neither do I. What if something happens to you two? We'll never know. Why don't we all go together?" argued Eri.

Yuka shook her head. "No. You two need to stay and hold down this house. And you can also search the house for any materials you think might be useful."

"Plus, the larger the group the noisier you are and the more attention you bring to yourself," added Hojo. "It's safer to only have two go to the store."

"Fine, you win," sighed Ayumi, her shoulders sagging. "But I swear, if anything happens to either of you…" She let the threat hang in the air.

Yuka hugged her friend. "Don't worry. We'll be fine. Besides, Hojo has a gun. And we'll move fast. We won't be gone for long."

"You better not be," said Eri. "The longer you're gone the more nervous I'll become. If you're gone for more than a few hours I'll probably pull all of my hair out. And my nails will be bitten down to the quick."

"That would be a pretty scary sight to come back to. So don't worry, we won't be gone that long," Hojo said with a laugh.

"Well then, shall we go?" asked Yuka.

"The sooner we get going the sooner we can get back. And the sooner we can put our plan into action. And the sooner we can blow Kazuhiko to hell," said Hojo while standing up.

"Can't argue with that," said Yuka, also rising to her feet.

Eri and Ayumi also stood up. "You two move fast, stay silent, and stay safe," demanded Ayumi.

"Of course," replied Yuka.

"Give me a grenade Eri," said Hojo. "Please," he added as an afterthought.

Eri looked at him oddly but did as he requested. "Why?" she asked once he had placed the grenade in his bag.

"We have no way of communicating with you. In the worse case scenario if something does happen to us we will hopefully still be able to set off this grenade. The sound would definitely cover the half mile. That way you would know that something bad happened and that there is an enemy within a half mile of you two so you could maybe hide or prepare for it. I desperately hope to not have to use it, but it's a safeguard."

"That's not a bad idea," said Yuka softly.

"Maybe, but you won't be using it," said Ayumi, her voice strained.

Eri didn't say anything but her face had turned white and her hands shook. Hojo quickly hugged the trembling girl. "Hey, don't worry. We'll be safe. That's just the worse case scenario. And the chances of that happening are slim."

Eri nodded. "All right. I believe you. But if you guys are actually going to do this than you better leave soon. Before I get my head back on and barricade the door to prevent you from leaving."

Hojo laughed and shouldered his bag. "I guess we better leave then. Are you ready Yuka?"

Yuka hugged both Eri and Ayumi. "You two stay safe too. If you have to, run. We'll find you if you do."

Both girls nodded and they watched Hojo open the door and step outside. Yuka followed him. Hojo turned and gave the girls a mock salute. His hand was trembling. Yuka gave her friends a wave and one last, nervous, smile. Then the door closed. And they were gone.

Eri stared at the door. Ayumi draped an arm around Eri's shoulders. "We'll see them again. In only a few short hours they'll be walking back through that door. You'll see," she comforted.

Eri faced Ayumi, her eyes plainly showing her fear. "Are you sure? What if…"

Ayumi swiftly clamped a hand over Eri's mouth. "No what if's. Don't even think 'what if'. Just…don't. I'll take the first watch. You can start searching the house."

Eri stiffly nodded and turned to walk away.

"Eri?"

Eri turned around to face her friend again.

"Just trust them. That's all we can do. Just…trust."

Eri let a ghost of smile cross her face before she disappeared into a room. Ayumi walked to the front window and rested her forehead against it. "Trust," she whispered softly to herself.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Kouga opened his eyes and pushed away from Hakkaku. "She can't be far," he growled. "I'm going after her."

Hakkaku stared at Kouga, grief still clouding his eyes. "But…but…you told Ginta we'd still try and find a way off the island."

Kouga abruptly stood up, his body quivering with barely suppressed rage. "You don't fucking get it, do you? There is no fuckin way off this shitty island. There never was and there never will be. The fuckin government set this up. How the hell do you propose we find a way off that the government didn't already think of? How the hell do you think a ninth grader could outsmart the government? And oh yeah, don't you dare forget the fact that our own fuckin classmates are hunting us. Don't you dare forget that one crucialpiece of information."

Hakkaku dug his fingers into the ground to prevent himself from jumping up in anger. "So you were just lying to Ginta when you agreed to continue to try and find a way off? Our friend was dying and you thought it would be fine to lie to him?" Hakkaku glared at Kouga, his eyes now blazing with anger. He was yelling now. "You little fuckin bastard. I can't believe you. Ginta was thinking of us when he took off like that. He was trying to protect us. Even when he was dying he was still only thinking of our safety. He didn't want you chasing after Kagura because he didn't want you to die. But you're going to ignore his last request. He told you to not hunt down Kagura. He told us to get off this island. You agreed. You fucking AGREED with him! Does Ginta's death mean nothing to you? Do you not even care that he just died? Do you? DO YOU?"

Kouga reached down and grabbed Hakkaku by the front of his shirt. He yanked his friend to his feet and immediately slammed Hakkaku into a tree. Hakkaku stared at him, fear and anger mixing equally in his eyes.

"Don't you ever dare accuse me of not being affected by Ginta's dead. You have NO fuckin idea how much his death is affecting me. So don't accuse me of not caring. Because I care. I care enough to fuckin risk my life to hunt down and kill Kagura. It's the least I can do for Ginta. I wasn't there to protect him. At least I can kill his murderer." At each sentence Kouga slammed Hakkaku into the tree. His face was red with rage and his voice was dripping with hate.

Hakkaku ripped himself out of Kouga's grasp. "No Kouga, I'm not the one who doesn't get it. You're the one who doesn't get it. Ginta didn't want you chasing after Kagura. He wanted you continue to try and find a way off the island. But you're stuck on revenge. You won't see it any other way."

"What the fuck do you want me to do?" screamed Kouga. "Do you expect me to fuckin sprout wings and fly away to safety? I'm not some fuckin god Hakkaku! I don't even know what I'm doing. Don't you understand? I'm so fuckin lost and confused and hurt right now. You have no idea how much I'm hurting right now." Kouga's voice no longer held any anger in it. It was instead full of pain and grief. He turned away from Hakkaku and walked to Ginta's body. He stared down at his lost friend. "Ginta was asking too much," he said softly. "He wanted me to put his death out of my mind and continue on the search for an escape. Every thought in my mind right now is about hunting Kagura down and killing her for murdering Ginta. I can't even think straight. Do you think I'm happy with myself for straight out lying to Ginta? But I didn't want him to worry. I wanted him to die in as much peace as I could possibly offer him. The only way to do that was to agree with him. But I just can't forget about revenge. I can't do it."

Kouga dropped down by Ginta's head. He had completely forgotten about Hakkaku. He gently grasped one of his friend's hands. "I'm sorry Ginta. But I have to hunt down Kagura. I couldn't live with myself if I let her off. I know you would have done the same for me." Silent tears streamed down Kouga's face. He looked up when footsteps sounded near him. The handle of Ginta's butcher knife was held in front of him.

"I understand Kouga. I also wish to kill Kagura. But once she's dead we have to at least try and fulfill our promise to Ginta. That's the least we can do for him."

Kouga took the knife and held it in his hands. It would be fitting to kill Ginta's murderer with Ginta's weapon. He looked at the hand Hakkaku held out for him. He set his jaw in a firm line and grasped Hakkaku's hand with his strong grip.

Hakkaku hauled his friend to his feet. "Let's do this for Ginta."

Kouga nodded. He suddenly handed the knife to Hakkaku and knelt back down.

"Kouga?" questioned Hakkaku.

"We can't just leave him like this," said Kouga stiffly. He grabbed the throwing star that was still imbedded in Ginta's chest. Taking a deep breath he pulled it out. He and Hakkaku stared blankly at it. This simple yet deadly weapon was what had killed their friend. Kouga slammed it into the ground beside Ginta.Kouga crossed Ginta's hands over his waist. He gripped Ginta's shoulder tightly. _I'm sorry my friend. But this is the best I could do for you. If I were able to I would dig you a grave. Or bring your body back to your family. Please forgive Hakkaku and myself for lying to you. But we need to do this. We can't exchange places with you so we need to hunt down Kagura. But I swear to you this. If we find a way off this island I will come back and retrieve your body. And you will have a proper burial. I'm sorry that is all I can promise. I know you'll understand._

Kouga gingerly rose to his feet and let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"You ok?" asked Hakkaku quietly.

"Of course not. You?"

"Hell no."

"Then let's be off."

"And hunt down that bitch."

"And kill her."

"And then find a way off this island."

"My thoughts exactly."

Hakkaku smiled and held the knife back out.

Kouga looked at hesitantly. "You sure you don't want to keep it? You did know Ginta longer than I did."

Hakkaku shrugged his shoulders. "I'm giving it to you. I honestly don't think I could really drive this knife into Kagura."

"What?! You mean you don't want to kill her?"

"Fuck no! I want that bitch dead for killing Ginta in cold blood. What I meant was that most likely as soon as I see her I'll become so overcome with rage I would just charge her and beat upon her face. I wouldn't be thinking clearly enough to use a weapon other than my fists. She killed my childhood friend. We were best friends since before kindergarten. And just like that…he died. No, I definitely wouldn't be clearheaded enough to use a knife."

Kouga responded by taking the knife back. "All right, well then let's go seek our revenge."

Hakkaku nodded and together the two friends began walking away. When they reached the border of the woods Hakkaku suddenly stopped. He slowly turned around and stared in sorrow at his best friend. Kouga placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Hakkaku continued to stare at his friends, tears slowing winding their way down his face. "How can I just leave? He's like my brother Kouga. If a family member was murdered how could you just walk away from their body? You know they're dead. You know they won't come back. But it's still them. That is still Ginta. That is still my best friend. The guy I grew up with. I keep imagining him alive. And all the stupid pranks he would always try and pull on me. Did you know that when we first met you Ginta didn't like you? Yeah, he thought you were too cocky and arrogant. Heh, I was the one who convinced him to give you a chance. It didn't take him too long to change his opinion of you. But…he's gone now. Ginta…you're dead. Kouga, he's truly gone. We were going to go off to college together and go to as many parties as possible. Pick up girls. Have fun. But…he's gone. Kouga, I just can't leave him. I just can't."

Kouga stepped between Hakkaku and Ginta's body. Hakkaku slowly blinked and focused on his living friend. "Hakkaku, we can't stay here. Don't worry; I know Ginta would understand you leaving him. He wouldn't want you staying with his dead body just like you wouldn't want him staying with yours if you had died. If he truly was like your brother he would want you to continue on. So come on, let's go find Kagura. Let's do that first and then think of the next step. All right?"

Hakkaku stared at Kouga, defeat clearly imprinted in his eyes. "Yeah, you're right," he sighed. "All right, I think I'm ready to go. Let's do this."

Kouga pointed over Hakkaku's shoulder. "You lead. I'll follow."

Hakkaku started to protest but than saw the wisdom behind Kouga's words. He turned and walked a few steps. He looked over his shoulder. All he saw was Kouga. Ginta was completely blocked from his gaze. He turned forward again, newfound determination in his eyes. He was ready. Ready to find Kagura. And kill her.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Kikyo continued to stare off into the distance. She heard the waves crashing against the bluffs she was on. If she closed her eyes she could almost believe she was in a peaceful area. But the thought of the game was never far from her mind. The sickle still lay by her side. Every now and then she would glance down at it. But then immediately whip her gaze back to the ocean.

She jumped in fright when she heard someone rustling in the grass behind her. She turned and grabbed her sickle before jumping up. "Who is it?" she ask, not able to keep her voice from cracking.

"Kikyo, what are you doing just sitting there? Are you not playing the game?" asked a cool voice.

Kikyo was able to make out who it was by the soft glow of moonlight that fell upon his body. "Naraku," she hissed, "what do you want?"

"Are you playing the game Kikyo?"

"Hell no!" she spat. "This game is sick. I could never kill one of my classmates. Even you Naraku."

"You say my name with such anger. What ever did I do to you?"

"Everyone knows about you Naraku. So don't play dumb with me. You do drugs, drink, smoke, steal, and have athing for prostitutes. You're a sick and vile creature. But I still couldn't kill you."

Naraku laughed mirthlessly. "Ah yes, my little reputation. But the prostitute rumor is false. The girls throw themselves at me. They want me. So who am I to deny them?"

Kikyo clenched her fists tightly around the handle of the sickle. "You disgust me. So please, tell me what you want and then leave me alone. I am no threat to you. I simply wish to sit her and enjoy the night and imagine I'm somewhere else. So tell me, what do you want?"

Naraku smirked. "Why my lovely Kikyo, the answer is simple."

"Then spit it out already!" yelled Kikyo in anger.

"I want you," he said so softly she could barely hear him.

Kikyo gasped. The sickle fell forgotten to the ground. She stepped backwards. And into empty air.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Aww, look at that. I come back after a long absence…and I end the chapter like that. I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist. Well anyways, please review. Who knows when I'll be able to read them, but I'd still like you to review. And you can also yell at me for taking so long to update if you'd wish. You deserve that if you're still reading this story after my long absence. Well, for those who are still in school, good luck with your exams if you have them. For those who don't…lucky young bastards…

**Review Responses:**

**Guardian of the Hell Gate: **Yeah, last chapter was kind of sad. Poor Ginta. Aww, don't cry! I would like to say things will look up for the others...but I'd probably be lying.

**kierra-shadowcat: **Well right now Naraku, Nazuna, Kagura, Kanna, and Yura are playing the game. If others join in only time will tell!

**silverkitsunekagome: **Yeah, I'm trying to fit in as many as the actual anime relationships as possible, so I definitely had to find a way to get Kouga to hate Kagura. And you have a story out too? Cool, I'll check it out sometime when my firewall quits acting up.

**moonglow gal: **Aww, I'm sorry! But...if you're this sad when Ginta died...who really is just a minor character...how will you react when a bigger character dies? Well...if a bigger characters dies of course...which you can probably guarantee at least some will...

**tetsukon: **Thanks for the review...and sorry for the really slow update this time. I'll try really hard to not let it happen again...and since my semester just finished today (yay!!) it is looking promising that I won't die like that again. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Hart: **Battle Royale is written by...Koushun something (I forgot his last name). But I do know I put who wroteit in the disclaimer of my prologue, so the author will be there if you'd like to see who wrote it. Ahh, thanks for the input on screwdriver damage. And 5 pounds for a nose?That was someinteresting info you shared with me!

**Shadow-Wolf-Jedi-Demon: **Yay! Thanks for the compliment about me making the characters sound real. That was my intent and I'm glad to see I was able to pull it off. Well, sorry for the slow update. Sigh, you guys are all so nice in your reviews and I take forever to update. Sorry about that! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Draconic Ban-sidhea: **Heh, you're breaking out the shotgun when Sess dies? Well...if Sess dies of course.... And now you have me intrigued about what you're thinking of for your next story. I'm thinking...character deaths? And I think I've fallen behind with your story...stupid school and internet...I'll catch up when my firewall isn't screwing everything up. Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**animecutie: **Haha, of course I'm not getting tired of you. You're probably getting tired of my slow and random updates though. But don't worry, I'm already working on the next chapter so it will definitely be out in under two weeks. My semester is officially over so I can devote a lot more time to writing again. Sorry again for the lousy update time, hope you'll forgive me and continue to like my story!

**babylemon: **Heh, yeah, there is a little bit of gore in my story. But I don't think it's all that bad, do you? Heh, and I've already got plans for Kagome, Sango, and Naraku. But when it will happen only I know...and what will happen between them...also, only I know. But don't worry, it will come soon enough!

**luckykittykagome: **Oh my god, the first part of your review cracked me up. I hope that doesn't sound morbid or mean that I was laughing about your 'grandfather in a box'...but I found that amusing. Interesting way of putting it, that's for sure! And yes, poor Ginta died, evil Kagura! She must die! But...the question is...will she? Hmm...Haha, and yeah, Yura was never met to be trusted. Whenever you read about her in my story you can be sure it's nothing good. Poor Sesshoumaru and Rin, wonder if they'll find out about her true colors before it's too late. Well, there used to be a doctor on the island, now there's only a doctor's office. So we'll get to see Miroku play doctor really soon...probably next chapter. That ought to be interesting! Poor Inu...Heh, probably by the time this chapter you're bday was over...so...Happy Belated Birthday! Hope you had a fun time being kidnapped.

**Gizmo369: **Aww, I'm sorry! I never realized Ginta had so many fans! I thought that by picking him or Hakkaku to die first it would kind of gradually wean you guys into good character deaths. Guess I was mistaken! Well, I hope you liked this chapter even though Ginta is no longer in the story. But you can be sure that he will live on in our hearts and memories forever!

**miss-yunz: **Here's your much awaited for update! Sorry for taking so long. I'll try not to let it happen again. but, glad you're liking my story!


	13. Playing Doctor

Well I hope everyone had a good holiday. Mine was very good to me. And awesome food. Which is always good. Hope you enjoy this chapter!  
xXxXxXxXxXx

**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 12: Playing Doctor

xXxXxXxXxXx

**September 24, 2004: 1:30 AM  
****21 Students Remain**

As soon as Kikyo realized she was stepping into nothingness she panicked. If she had kept her head she would have been able to recover quickly. As it were she started tipping backward, her arms pin wheeling wildly as they attempted to recover her balance. Her foot that had stepping backwards and started this whole mess kicked the side of the cliff. Kikyo resigned herself to falling when a hand suddenly grasped her upper arm. A moment later she was thrown against Naraku's chest.

"You know, it would have been amusing to watch you fall," said Naraku, smirking down at the trembling girl.

Kikyo wrenched herself away from him and hugged herself. "Then why did you save me?" she asked, almost not wanting to hear the answer. Naraku's last words right before she almost fell to her death kept replaying in her mind. 'I want you.' Just what did he mean by that?

Naraku took his time in replying. Before he did he walked to the side of the cliff and looked down. "No guarantee of you dying if you simply fell," he answered nonchalantly.

Kikyo gasped and brought one hand up to cover her mouth. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

Naraku trailed one finger down Kikyo's jaw line. The girl shuddered at his touch but was too terrified to step away. "You know how the game works. It goes until only one student survives. Now if you're down there, injured yet still alive, you could win just by being out of the game but still being in it. Understand?"

"You monster. You're playing?"

Naraku laughed cruelly. "What? Did you honestly think that I would let one of you kill me? No, I certainly think not."

"Then what did you mean when you said you wanted me?"

Naraku stepped close to Kikyo and wrapped one arm around her shoulders. Kikyo struggled but stopped when Naraku's face moved to be within three inches of her own. "My dear Kikyo, did you actually think I meant that I wanted you sexually? Or is that just what you wished for?"

Kikyo responded by spitting in his face. "Leave go of me you devil!" she growled. "I would rather die than have sex with you. Don't flatter yourself so much."

Naraku smirked and pulled the valiantly struggling girl even closer to him. "Then today just might be your lucky day," he said softly into her hair.

Kikyo abruptly stopped her struggling. It wasn't what Naraku said. But rather what she felt. Something cold and hard pressing into her stomach. Almost dreading to look she did so anyways. She felt tears pricking the corners of her eyes. A pistol was pressed to her abdomen, Naraku's finger dangerously close to the trigger. When Naraku started to speak she looked back up.

"And just so you know, what I meant when I said I want you was that I want you dead. But you tried to kill yourself before I could get the last part out. And oh yes, the reason I saved you was so I could get the pleasure of killing you myself. Stare at me with hateful eyes all you want, but your life still ends today. All of you people who preach about friends and love and stupid shit like that will die. And the winner will be me. I'll win because I care about no one. Caring for others gets you nowhere in life, it is a weakness. I learned that a long time ago. And hey, would you look at that. Seems my philosophy on life is what will let me win. Funny, isn't it?"

"People like you are the reason this game, or experiment, is done in the first place," spat Kikyo, her eyes flashing with hate.

"You're pretty feisty while on death's door," commented Naraku.

"It wouldn't matter if I was cursing you out or being silent and docile, you would kill me anyways."

"You are pretty intuitive as well."

"And you're an asshole. What's new?" Kikyo truly was past caring. Deep down from the moment she learned her class had been picked she had subconsciously been preparing herself for death. She knew she wouldn't be able to compete. Which then guaranteed her death. But she didn't mind. She would rather die then kill one of her classmates in cold blood. And it looked like she was about to get her wish.

"Well Kikyo, as much as I thoroughly enjoy the conversation we're having I really have to be heading out. Have many more people to kill and then time is always ticking away."

"Oh save me your sob story," retorted Kikyo. "You expect me to feel sorry for your plight? I hope someone tries to kill you. But they do a poor job of it. And you live. Only to die a slow and agonizing death. And even that is almost too kind for you."

"Well, you bore me now. Any last good-byes? Last regrets?" teased Naraku cruelly.

"Go fuck yourself."

And with that Naraku pulled the trigger. A deafening bang tore through the sill night air. Kikyo flew backwards from the force of the bullet. She teetered on the edge. One hand when to her bleeding abdomen while the other reached for something, anything, to grab a hold of. But this time no one reached out to save her. People say that when you're about to die your life flashed before your eyes. Kikyo couldn't testify to that. But her last moments die seem to happen in slow motion.

As she fell backwards and over the cliff Naraku's face appeared over the edge. He was smiling at her. Smiling at her pain filled face. Smiling at her blood soaked shirt. Smiling at her intestines that escaped through the hole in her abdomen and trailed through the air after her.

As Kikyo fell she realized she did have one regret. She regretted not having the courage to have driven her sickle through Naraku's face. All the way through his neck and into his chest. Where she could have sliced through his black heart. And sent his soul to hell which is where it belonged. She now only wished for someone to have the courage to do it for her.

Naraku watched the falling girl until her body met the rocks below with a sickening crash. If the fall alone didn't kill her then she would be sure to die soon from the gun wound he had inflicted upon her. Either way she died was fine by him. All that really mattered was that another student was out of the way. He shouldered Kikyo's forgotten sickle and left the bluffs. He was one step closer to victory.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

"That's a sight for sore eyes," remarked Miroku. The doctor's office could be seen in the distance.

"Or sore arm," groaned Inuyasha. He still couldn't believe how much damage Nazuna had accomplished with just a screwdriver. His shoulder throbbed painfully and it was still bleeding. Everytime he accidentally moved his arm he felt like screaming. He bit his tongue instead. Not only would screaming tell anyone near them where they were but it would also give Miroku bragging rights. Miroku would constantly say, "I told you we had to go the doctor's office.' The one thing Inuyasha could really do without was a bragging friend.

"You holding up ok?" asked Miroku.

"Of course," answered Inuyasha, not able to withhold a groan from escaping his lips.

"Well, you're all right enough to lie," said Miroku with a wry smile.

"Get that fuckin grin off your face before I wipe it off," growled Inuyasha. His shoulder felt like it was in the process of falling off and Miroku was smiling. Damn his friend.

"You know Inuyasha, you're not much of a threat right now," commented Miroku.

"I'll shove my sword up your ass," snapped Inuyasha.

"I bet you'd like to do that, eh?" joked Miroku.

"That deserves no response you sick bastard."

Miroku laughed. "Hey would you look at that, we're at the doctor's office. That didn't take too long."

"For you maybe," said Inuyasha. The two friends walked inside and through the waiting room. When they reached the actual doctor's room Inuyasha's face fell. "Oh fuck," he groaned.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"You're not actually planning on stitching me up, are you?" asked Inuyasha hesitantly, His face turned white when he opened a random drawer and it happened to be full of wrapped needles. _Shit, definitely the wrong drawer to open._ He slammed it shut and leaned against the counter.

"Well, you have any other ideas?" asked Miroku. He didn't much like the idea of stitching his friend up either. He was scared of making it worse. But he also knew something had to be done.

"Page the doctor?" suggested Inuyasha.

"Haha, yeah, good one."

"It was worth a shot."

"Well it looks like I get to stitch you up then."

"Swell."

"Hey, I don't like it any better than you do."

"But you're not the one who's going to have someone sewing you up."

"You're right. I'll just be doing the actual sewing. Getting to put a needle through my friend's skin. Lucky me," said Miroku sarcastically.

Inuyasha rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Sorry. Well shall we do this?"

"You want to try and find a pain killer or something?" asked Miroku.

"I guess. But the only painkillers I know of are Tylenol or aspirin. I don't know any heavy duty painkillers which is what I'd like."

"Same here."

"Well, guess Tylenol would be better than nothing," said Inuyasha while opening drawers and cupboards in search of painkillers.

While Inuyasha did that Miroku busied himself with gathering alcohol, cotton balls, needle, and thread. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing. But he remembered when he was younger every time he cut himself his mother would clean the wound with alcohol. He never had any injury anywhere near as bad as Inuyasha's but he figured alcohol wouldn't make it worse. He hoped.

Inuyasha started getting worried. Where were the painkillers that he knew of? All he kept seeing were bottles with long funny looking words. He doubt he even would have been able to pronounce half the medicines he saw. Opening one drawer he discovered many scary looking metal instruments. He slammed it shut.

"What was that?" asked Miroku.

"Um, nothing," said Inuyasha quickly.

"Uh, ok. Find any Tylenol yet?"

"No. How the hell could a doctor's office not have Tylenol?" complained Inuyasha.

"Perhaps because it is a doctor's office. They use better stuff than Tylenol."

"Damn you for making sense," grumbled Inuyasha before continuing his search with a vengeance.

Miroku started at Inuyasha slamming open drawers and cupboards before getting an idea. He walked back to the waiting room and went behind the receptionist's desk. He opened the top drawer and smiled to himself.

"Damn fuckin smartass doctor," cursed Inuyasha when a search of another half dozen drawers yielded no results.

"Hey Inuyasha, catch."

Inuyasha looked up in time to have a bottle of Tylenol hit him on the forehead.

"Nice catch," commented Miroku.

Inuyasha glared at Miroku before stooping down to pick up the bottle. "So where'd you find it?"

"In the receptionist's drawer. Seems he or she doesn't mind using the cheaper medicine."

"Thank god for them," sighed Inuyasha. "The last thing I wanted to do was read a bunch of shit to discover what medicine I could take that wouldn't kill me."

"But that stuff would probably work better. Are you sure you don't want to try and find a better painkiller?" asked Miroku in a concerned voice.

"Hell no! We don't have time to waste. Do you want someone to find the girls before we do?"

In reply Miroku threaded a needle and held it up. "Are you ready for this?"

Inuyasha dryly swallowed a couple of pills sat down in the available chair. "As ready as I'll ever be. Let's do this."

Miroku walked to his friend and placed the threaded needle on the countertop. He then untied the crude bandage that he had earlier concocted and removed it from Inuyasha's arm. He happened to get a glance at the inner bandages and found them to be soaked through with blood. Gagging slightly he found a trashcan and threw them away. He returned with the cotton balls, alcohol, and a pair of scissors he had also found.

"What are the scissors for?" asked Inuyasha.

"I've got to amputate," said Miroku in an attempt to keep the mood light.

"Hah, very funny. Now what are they really for?"

"Well it's kind of hard to see the wound considering your sleeve is covering most of it."

"Don't cut me anymore than I already am," said Inuyasha when Miroku made the first cut in his sleeve.

"I can use a pair of scissors," defending Miroku.

"Sure you can. I remember you in art class. You could barely cut a straight line."

"That was two years ago!"

"Oh, so I suppose you've been practicing cutting with scissors since then?"

"Don't you think it would be a shame if someone kept distracting me while I was cutting your shirt and I stabbed you by accident?"

"Asshole," mumbled Inuyasha.

"I thought so," replied Miroku brightly. He quickly finished cutting the sleeve and threw that away as well. For the first time he got a good look at the wound.

A jagged line about a quarter inch thick and half inch long was in the fleshy part between Inuyasha's shoulder and collarbone. Blood was still seeping from it and the surrounding area was caked with dried blood and dirt. But that wasn't the worst part. Miroku was glad he hadn't eaten in awhile. There were bits of what he could only guess to be tendons or ligaments poking out of the deep wound. That only could have happened when he had pulled out the screwdriver. Miroku vaguely remembered Nazuna twisted the screwdriver, by doing that she must have gotten it thoroughly entangled with his tendons or ligaments. _No wonder why it was so hard to pull out. I was pulling out his tendons or ligaments too! Fuck, no wonder why it hurts so bad. Not only are they completely destroyed but they're in his wound as well. How am I suppose to help him? I'm no doctor._

After hearing no response from Miroku for over a minute Inuyasha chanced a look at his friend. He was surprised to see Miroku looking white as a ghost, his hands trembling slightly. He looked at his wound. "Oh fuck," he groaned. "Now I know why it hurts so damn much."

Recovering slightly from his shock Miroku nodded. "Yeah, I'm surprised you can even more your arm at all."

"I can move it. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt like hell whenever I do," said Inuyasha bluntly. "So are you going to stitch me up now so we can get going?"

"Inuyasha! I can't do anything! If I just stitch you up your tendons, or whatever they are, will be in the way. I don't know what to do."

"No way," growled Inuyasha. "No way. We didn't come all the way out here to do nothing! No fucking way! We could have found the girls by now. And now since we're here I'm going to get my wound stitched up!"

"What the hell do you want me to do?" yelled Miroku. "Get a fuckin doctor's degree in five minutes?"

"No, just cut them off," said Inuyasha softly.

Miroku looked like someone had just punched him in the gut. "Are you out of your mind? Haven't you been through enough pain already?"

"Yeah, but it won't get any better staying like this. Face it Miroku, I've got to stop the bleeding. And since there are no doctors we have to do the only thing we can. Cut off whatever is in the way and then stitch it up."

"What if that only makes it worse?"

"Then I'll deal with it. Listen, I already can't use my arm. So it's not like you'll make it any worse on me. At least this way the bleeding can possibly stop. Please, do it before I lose my nerve," pleaded Inuyasha.

At the sight of his friend begging Miroku finally gave in. "All right, I'll do it."

"Good," said Inuyasha simply.

Miroku walked back to where he had found the scissors and selected another, sturdier, pair. He also found a pair of surgical gloves and donned those. "Are you ready for this? I have no idea how much this will hurt."

"Of course you wouldn't you idiot. Quit stalling and do it already," said Inuyasha, turning his head so he wouldn't have to see Miroku cutting bits of his body off.

Miroku took in a deep breath. He clenched his jaw and grabbed a scrap of tendon before he lost it. He cut the bit of tendon off that was outside the wound. From far away he could hear someone screaming. He realized it was Inuyasha but he had to keep going. Miroku hurriedly finished cutting and threw the scissors down. He stumbled away from Inuyasha, fell to his hands and knees, and puked. He couldn't believe it. He had just cut off a part of Inuyasha's body.

Inuyasha breathed heavily. He was not prepared for that kind of pain at all. He doubt if someone was actually sawing off his arm it would have hurt any more.

Miroku wiped his mouth and stood back up on shaking knees. He put on fresh gloves and went back to Inuyasha. He doused a cotton ball in alcohol and went about cleaning the wound as best he could.

Inuyasha hissed when the alcohol first touched his open wound. But after what he had just been through this was nothing.

Miroku finished cleaning the wound without much problem. He picked up the needle and thread. This would be the next really fun part. Not knowing how a doctor actually stitched someone up he had to stitch how someone would stitch a hole in one's jeans. He tied a knot at one end of the thread. Without asking if his friend was ready he pushed the needle into one side of the wound and pulled it until the knot was against skin.

Inuyasha clenched his other hand tightly around the armrest and gritted his teeth. Every time the needle bit threw his skin he felt it. And he felt the thread traveling through as well. He closed his eyes and attempted to take deep, calming breaths. It worked somewhat and before he knew it Miroku was talking.

"I'm done stitching. I'm going to go find some gauze and hopefully a sling."

Keep his eyes closed Inuyasha nodded. He heard Miroku rummaging around the room.

Miroku silently thanked whoever owned this office. One drawer was completely full of all different sizes of gauze. And in a small closet there were slings. He selected a sling and grabbed several packages of gauze. He returned to his friend and immediately started bandaging the wound in fresh, clean gauze. As soon as the ugly wound was covered Miroku felt a great load lift off his shoulders. When he finished wrapping it he slid Inuyasha's arm gently into the sling and put the strap around his friend's neck.

When Inuyasha felt the sling's strap slide over his head he finally opened his eyes. "Is it over?" he asked shakily.

"Yeah, it's over," said Miroku with a comforting smile on his face.

"Good," sighed Inuyasha. "Guess we can finally be heading off again?"

"Yeah, let me just throw some of this stuff into my bag," said Miroku. He opened his bag and first took at a bottle of water and a small snack cake. He gave both to Inuyasha who took them greedily. Taking out another bottle and snack cake for himself he then started loading the bag with gauze, needles, thread, cotton balls, alcohol, and pair of scissors, and an extra sling just to be safe.

Inuyasha quickly polished off the food and half a bottle of water. He stood up and slipped the Tylenol into his pocket. Miroku saw and lifted and eyebrow.

"Did those actually work?"

"This stuff is shit," said Inuyasha. "But maybe Kagome or Sango has a headache.

Miroku laughed. "Aren't you such a sweetheart. Always looking out for others."

"Nah, only a few others. Most people I wouldn't give a damn if they had a headache," clarified Inuyasha.

"Oh yes, that's the Inuyasha I know. So if I had a headache would I get some Tylenol?" asked Miroku sweetly.

"Hell no. I'd cut your head, stitch you up, and then Tylenol wouldn't do you any good either."

"Yup," said Miroku. "You're back."

"Did I ever leave?" asked Inuyasha arrogantly.

"Well I seem to recall a certain someone screaming like a baby while I was cutting," commented Miroku offhandedly.

"Give me your hand," demanded Inuyasha.

"Eh? Why?" asked Miroku worriedly, immediately placing both hands behind his back and out of Inuyasha's view.

"I was going to cut one of your fingers off and see how much you liked it," said Inuyasha.

"Or…we could leave revenge for some other time. And continue our search for Sango and Kagome," suggested Miroku quickly.

Inuyasha snickered under his breath. And silently thanked whoever had allowed him and Miroku to get together right way on the island. He didn't think he'd be able to survive without his best friend by his side. Inuyasha walked up to Miroku and clapped his friend on the shoulder with his good hand. "Thanks Miroku."

Miroku smiled and returned the gesture. "Anytime my friend, anytime."

xXxXxXxXxXx

An amazing amount of people thought Kikyo died last chapter. Instead she died this chapter. And I believe next chapter we'll have to check in with Sess, Rin, and Yura as well as Kagome and Sango. I think. I have yet to write any of it so I'll see where it leads me. As always please review and make fun of my lack of medical knowledge! (come on, I know you want to!)

**Review Responses:**

**Mizery rizes:** Yay! I'm hated! In my opinion it's a good thing when someone hates you because of the ending of a chapter because that means you actually ended it good and they want to keep reading it. Hehe, and I'm the same as you, I can never think of good threats to leave.

**Hart:** Aww, you're already preparing for Miroku's death? Hehe, that's sad, but I can't really blame you. Although I won't say for sure if he'll die or not, but from the looks of things it looks like many more will die! Hehe, well, now Kikyo is officially dead. I don't think I could make her come back after getting shot in the stomach at really really close range as well as falling onto rocks. Haha, wouldn't it be convenient if they sold molotov cocktails at the store? Sadly I don't think that's what they'll be getting but it would have been nice!

**Luckykittykagome:** Aww, that's so nice, your friends threw you a surprise party. My friends in Florida threw me surprise going away party right before I moved. I thought I was going over to a friend's house just to go swimming and hang out. I walk into her room and "SURPRISE!". They scared me half to death. But it was awesome. And that's cool that your play if off to state competitions. Hope you guys win! Haha, irresponsible siblings, gotta love them. My sister had done that to me before. I'm all nice and comfortable on the computer chair on the internet, when she's all like "I need to get on there right now to finish something up for school!" And it's like 10 PM or something. Haha, and Kikyo didn't die last chapter! She died this one! Although I do kind of liked the way she died. SPLAT! Hehe. And my Christmas was wonderful, I got the collector's edition of Return of the King! Yay! Yes, I'm a Lord of the Rings freak. I also got other stuff (a mandolin! Another yay!) but ooh, I can't help but love the LOTR stuff I got. Hope your Christmas was also wonderful and your New Year's is fun as well!

**Shadow-Wolf-Jedi-Demon:** Haha, thanks for the compliments! I'm trying to put in some twists and turns here and there to make it more interesting. I especially like the one with Yura being with Sess and Rin now since we all know that she's playing the game. Well I hoped you liked this chapter and thanks for the review!

**Moonglow gal:** Haha, Kikyo hadn't died yet! Now you can officially do your happy because she is dead. And are Kouga, Hakkaku, Yura, and Hojo brave…or just really stupid? I really think there's a fine line between brave and stupid. But hey, that's just me. Thanks for the review!

**Keirra-shadowcat:** Hehe, was this a bit faster update for you? I went over two weeks, but just barely! But with Christmas and all last week I was so busy I lost all time for writing. And Kikyo didn't blow up, she got shot instead. And how the collars work is if someone tries to take it off they'll blow up. And they also have a GPS unit in them so Kazuhiko can track everyone on the island. If he sees on the computer monitor someone trying to escape he can manually make their collar explode. If Kikyo just fell off the cliff and didn't move after that he would be able to tell that she wasn't escaping. Well, hope that makes a little bit of sense, and thanks for reviewing. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Draconic Ban-sidhea:** Thanks for the compliment! I was trying my best at protraying Kouga's and Hakkaku's emotions and am glad to see it worked out all right. Ooh, and charater deaths in your story? Cool. Hehe, that probably just made me sound morbid. But in the right story character deaths are just cool. And fun to mess around with. Hence the reason I'm writing this story! You can be sure that once you get that story out I'll be reading it!

**Animecutie:** Oh no! You can't forget about this story! That would be very sad. I updated a bit faster this time, still not as fast as I'd like, but a little better, right? Haha, winter break! I love winter break. I don't go back til Jan 18 so I'm thrilled. And the Kagome-Shippo story was in chapter 8-the one titled "Resolve". It's the last part of the chapter if you'd like to take a look at it again. But the just of it is that Shippo was the personal slave of a man and he lived out on the streets. Kagome saw him one day, befriended him without thought, and Shippo was able to go to the police get the man arrested. There's a lot more to it, but it's in that chapter if you want more. Hope that helped.

**Misguidedangel:** aww, you almost cried at the Kouga/Hakkaku bit? I'm sorry! But that means it worked though, so I guess I am kind of happy. Haha, and don't worry, I'd be laughing too if Kikyo died just by walking off a cliff. I mean all these students are being murdered by their classmates and Kikyo…walks off a cliff. Hehe, but sadly she didn't die that way. Naraku had to shoot her first. Well, Miroku and Inu are finally able to continue their search of the girls, so maybe sometime soon they'll find them. But just for a little hint, I plan on another major event happening before they find the girls, so it won't be for several chapters probably! Sorry! Well, I hoped you liked this chapter and thanks for the review.

**Naomi-Starcloud:** Yay! New reader! Welcome aboard this trip through the…morbid regions of my mind! Heheh…and about the story ending happily…well let's just say I can't make any promises. I actually do know how I want to end it but I can't give away whether it's happy or sad. And thanks for the compliment about my protrayal of the characters. That's always good to hear especially since this story centers so heavily on the emotions of the characters. And about Sess and Rin, hopefully we'll be checking in on them next chapter. That's my plan at least. And then we can see what Yura is planning! Thanks for reading this story and reviewing. Hope you continue to enjoy this story.

**Miss-yunz:** Well, your Sess/Rin part will be coming up next chapter hopefully. And glad to see that you find them cute with their friendship. I was hoping no one would be saying 'come on! Have them have a romantic interest in each other!' because I wouldn't have been able to do it. But everyone seems to be happy with them just being really good friends. Hehe, and you're the second person who thought the Kikyo part was funny. And I agree, it would have been but she didn't actually fall off the cliff last chapter as you saw this chapter. Well, I hope you liked this chapter and thanks for the review!


	14. Predator and Prey

Hey all, I'm back. A little over a week for this update, that's not too bad, is it? Well, hope you enjoy this chapter! 

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 13: Predator and Prey

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

**September 24, 2004; 2:00 AM  
20 Students Remain  
Recently Deceased: Kikyo Matsui**

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Kagome glanced at her friend who was sleeping fitfully in the corner of the foyer. She wished there was a way for her to help her friend. But she had doubts that Sango would have an easy time getting a good nights sleep. She had a feeling that every time Sango closed her eyes she would picture Hiten dying at her hands.

Kagome sighed and resumed her silent vigilance over the front of the house. She had yet to see anyone but her nerves were still on edge.

Sango mumbled something incoherently but stayed asleep.

Kagome silently prayed for Inuyasha and Miroku to stay safe. She hoped on one level that they were also hiding out. But deep down she knew they wouldn't stop searching until they found Sango and her.

Sango clenched her hands into tight fists and shook her hand.

_Miroku pushed her so hard she fell to the ground. His body suddenly seemed to dance in the air. But it was a dance of death. Sango watched in horror as blood sprayed from his chest. He fell like a rag doll to the ground and his head bounced lifelessly against it. She stayed frozen as his head turned to face her. Blood dripped down his face; there was a hole in his cheek, a bullet lodged firmly in his face. Three more bullet wounds riddled his body, two in the lungs and the last in the stomach. His shirt was quickly stained a lethal red. He attempted to smile at her. She didn't move when Naraku walked up to Miroku. He smiled at her with nothing but malice showing in his eyes. His eyes almost seemed to glow red like how she always imagined the devil's would. She watched him raise his pistol until it was pointed at Miroku's face. And she still couldn't move. And still Miroku did nothing but smile gently at her. Sango saw Naraku pull the trigger. She heard nothing. But she saw all traces of Miroku's face explode._

"MIROKU!"

Kagome almost screamed when Sango suddenly shouted Miroku's name. She immediately faced her friend and was surprised to see Sango shaking, tears streaming down her face.

Kagome moved to Sango's side. "Sango? What happened?" she questioned softly.

"M-Miroku," she stammered, her face ashen white and tears running down her face as if a dam had been broken behind her eyes. "H-He saved me…b-but then N-Naraku shot him. He shot him directly in the face!" she said with such heartache Kagome drew her into her arms.

Sango shuddered against Kagome's embrace. Her voice was muffled against Kagome's shirt but she still clearly heard what Sango said. Almost too clearly.

"I…I couldn't move. Miroku saved me and I just stared when Naraku walked up and shot him. And all Miroku did was smile at me. I let him die and yet all he did was smile."

Kagome smoothed Sango's hair with her hand. Her heart wept for her friend. She couldn't even imagine having a nightmare like that. She couldn't imagine watching Inuyasha, or any of her friends, die.

"Shh," she soothed. "It was just a nightmare. Naraku didn't kill Miroku. Both he and Inuyasha are still alive."

"How do you know?" asked Sango, her voice completely drenched in sadness.

"I feel it in my heart," answered Kagome. And she believed it. She had complete faith that Inuyasha and Miroku were alive and searching for them. "You'll see. We'll join up with them. We'll find each other."

"Kagome, the dream felt so real. I can't erase the image of Miroku dying from my mind."

"It was just a dream," comforted Kagome. "For what we've been through already, especially you, you can't expect to not dream. But don't worry, we'll find them. Just believe that we'll find them."

Sango withdrew herself from Kagome's embrace and smiled gratefully at her friend. "I guess I'm being silly, huh? Getting worked up over a dream. You're right Kag, I shouldn't let it bother me."

"Sango, it's not silly. And if it didn't bother you I'd be worried."

"Afraid I'd gone insane?" asked Sango.

A small smile landed on Kagome's lips. "Yeah, something like that. And I don't care for my best friend to go insane anytime soon."

"Don't worry Kag. I'll stay around for a long time to bug you in a non-insane way," quipped Sango.

"That's a relief," said Kagome with a smile. It was good to have her friend back.

"Well, since I'm up do you want to sleep now?" asked Sango, arching her back and stretching her arms above her head. She felt her shoulders crack and shook them out.

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"All right, I'll keep watch, you go ahead and rest."

Kagome nodded and relaxed against the wall. She closed her eyes and let sleep claim her a few minutes later.

Sango sighed and stared out the window. She silently prayed for Miroku and Inuyasha to stay safe. She willed them to walk out of the woods in front of the house. True, she told Kagome she was ok. Back to normal, or at least as normal as one could be in these circumstances. But in all actuality she wasn't. She didn't think she'd ever be ok again.

Fresh tears began forming and silently gliding down her face. She made no effort to hold them in or wipe them away. She simply listened to Kagome's steady breathing and tried to repress the memories of Hiten's death and Miroku's murder. It wasn't working. Nothing was. She somehow knew that the only way to repress Miroku's murder was to find him alive and well. And the only way to wash Hiten's blood off her hands and forget that memory would be to have death claim her.

From the corner of her eye Sango saw movement. She jerked and pressed her face against the glass to get the best view possibly. She let out a shaky sigh when there was no movement.

_Must have been a small breeze. Or my imagination acting up again._

She was about to relax again when she saw several bushes that were clumped together shake. As she continued watching a head poked out from between them.

Sango covered her mouth with her hands before she could shout out. Taking a deep breath she removed them and gently shook Kagome awake.

"Eh? Wha..?" grumbled Kagome. "I haven't been sleeping for that long, have I?" she asked when she saw Sango staring at her.

"Barely five minutes. But Kag, there's someone out there," whispered Sango anxiously.

At this statement Kagome's eyes flew open. "Where?" she asked. "Who?"

Sango pointed in the direction where she saw the head. "That way, in a clump of bushes. No idea who it is."

"What should we do?" asked Kagome, her face pressed to the window. "The person looks like they're going to come here."

"Escape," replied Sango without a moment's hesitation. "The house isn't safe anymore."

Tensely nodding Kagome gripped her bow and stood up. She glanced out the window one more time. "The person is walking this way. Let's go."

Grabbing her boomerang and bag Sango jumped to her feet.

Kagome reached down to grab her bag when she changed her mind. Instead of picking her bag up she picked up an arrow. Nodding to her bag she asked, "could you bring that?"

"Of course," said Sango. Slinging Kagome's bag over her shoulder along with her own she followed her friend out the back door of the house. As soon as they stepped foot in the backyard they realized their mistake.

"Shit," groaned Sango staring at the 7 ft brick wall surrounding the house.

"Damn, this thing completely slipped my mind," said Kagome in an irritated voice. She cursed herself for forgetting. After all, she and Sango had picked this house because a brick wall surrounded the backyard. If they had been forced to break a window it would have been shielded from all except who also went in the backyard. And now what used to be protecting them was now their prison.

"We have two choices," began Sango. "Attempt to jump the wall or walk out the gate and hope the person doesn't see us."

"The gate is on the same side of the house the person is," said Kagome.

"Yeah. So we jump?"

Kagome stared at her friend. "Can _you_ jump a 7 ft wall?"

Despite the situation Sango couldn't help the small grin that landed on her face. "No. What I was actually thinking was for you to boost me up then I can haul you up." She eyed the imposing wall. "I think that's our best escape."

"Well, it is our best idea so far. Let's try it." Kagome moved to put down her bow and arrow when the muffled sound of breaking glass was heard.

"The front window," whispered Sango.

Kagome notched her arrow loosely in the bow and motioned for Sango to follow her. They stealthily made their way to the side of the house with the gate and cautiously peered into a window looking into the family room.

As they watched in anticipation of seeing who the mystery person was a light suddenly snapped on, light spilling out into the yard. Both girls jumped back in shock, both doing surprisingly well in holding in their shouts of surprise.

They slid to the ground, their backs pressed against the house. Through the wall they could hear footsteps growing steadily louder. Both were too frozen in fear to even attempt an escape.

Kagome clenched her bow and arrow tighter and Sango gripped Kagome's upper arm firmly.

The latches of the window were snapped open.

Both girls pressed themselves as close as they could to the wall.

The window slid open. They could hear the student's breathing, Kagome could have sworn she head the heartbeat as well.

"Is someone out here?" asked a hard, feminine, voice. "If someone is then show yourself, don't fuck with me."

Kagome and Sango said and did nothing. They barely breathed.

"Fuck, I could have sworn I saw a face," grumbled the girl. "Goddamn cowards, why is everyone a fuckin coward in this game?"

The window slammed shut with such violence the panes shook. The footsteps slowly receded and soon the light was off.

Kagome and Sango eachlet out huge sighs of relief. As one they got on their hands and knees and crawled to the gate.

"That was Nazuna, wasn't it?" asked Kagome softly.

"Yeah, I'm sure of it. And from how it sounded it appears she's playing," answered Sango, her voice tinted with anger.

"Let's leave before she thinks of checking the backyard," said Kagome while standing up. She unlatched the gate and tentatively pushed it open, praying it wouldn't creak.

Her prayers were answered and the gate soundlessly swung open. She notched the arrow yet again and began the slow trek into the open.

Sango followed; repeatedly glancing behind her to be sure Nazuna hadn't spotted them. The bags were slung over her left shoulder and in her right hand she had her boomerang.

They were a mere 15 feet from the safety of trees when the front door slammed open.

"Take one more step and I swear I'll throw these knives right into your fuckin backs," said a dangerous voice.

Kagome and Sango turned around to see Nazuna standing in the front lawn 20 feet away from them. In her left hand she clutched a half dozen steak knives. In her right she held a single knife.

"We don't want to fight," said Kagome.

In response Nazuna sneered. "Too fuckin bad. I do." Drawing back her right hand she threw a knife as hard as she could.

Neither Sango nor Kagome could see the knife hurtling through the air. They didn't see it until it landed in the ground three feet to Kagome's left.

"Steak knife," breathed Sango quietly. "Can't aim those well, not meant for throwing. She'd have to be lucky to hit us at this distance."

"Run for it?" asked Kagome.

"Yeah. That would be best."

"On three."

Sango nodded and readied her muscles to turn and run on three.

"One."

Nazuna grabbed another knife.

"Two."

She readied it for throwing.

"THREE!"

At the same time Sango spun on her heel and ran, Nazuna threw the knife, and Kagome fired an arrow.

Both Nazuna and Kagome shouted in pain and surprise before Kagome ran as well.

After running for a few minutes both Sango and Kagome slid to a halt. Sango grabbed Kagome's shoulders.

"What happened?" she frantically asked. "I heard you shout. Are you ok? Did you shoot Nazuna?"

"I'm all right," assured Kagome. When Sango let her go she rubbed her left arm. "But I was lucky. The knife she threw did hit me in the arm. But instead of the blade it was the handle. I'll have a bruise, but at least no bleeding. And I didn't shoot her. I fired an arrow to the side of her. It probably frightened her a bit which is all I was hoping for."

Sango sighed in relief. "Thank god you aren't hurt."

"Yeah. So, what do we do now?"

Sango grinned at her friend. "I'm starving. What do you say we find a reasonably safe spot and eat?"

Laughing softly Kagome quickly agreed.

The two friends found a well-covered area and opened their bags in search of food. They had survived another encounter. But while they ate they both wondered how much longer their luck would hold out.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sesshoumaru leaned his head back against a tree trunk. He closed his eyes to mere slits and watched the girl he was sure would turn out to be a traitor. Rin slept peacefully beside him, completely oblivious to the fact that both Yura and Sesshoumaru were awake.

Yura also leaned against a tree, albeit a bit tenser than Sesshoumaru. She knew Sesshoumaru realized she was awake. But she wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing her act awake. She still feigned sleep.

"I know you're awake," whispered Sesshoumaru coldly. He felt not an ounce of warmth towards the girl. He trusted her about as much as trusted Kazuhiko.

Yura said nothing and kept her eyes closed. She knew she was treading on thin ice in staying with these two. But Rin trusted her completely. And as long as Rin trusted her she would be safe. Now all she had to do was bide her time. All she had to do was wait for the opportunity to kill Sesshoumaru. Once he was dead Rin would be a cinch to take out. And then Yura would have a shotgun.

Rin rolled over in her sleep and landed on a sharp rock. With a small groan she opened her eyes and sat up.

Sesshoumaru glanced at his friend. "You ok?" he asked in seeing the slight sign of pain in her eyes.

Rin rubbed the point on her back the rock bit into. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just the pleasures of sleeping in the woods," she replied. "Well, since I'm up do you want to sleep? I'll keep watch for us."

Sesshoumaru thought for a second then shook his head. "Not safe for me to sleep," he said slowly. "She isn't sleeping," he said, directing the comment towards Yura.

Rin narrowed her eyes slightly. "Are you still going on about that Sess? She had a traumatizing experience and we're going to help her."

"Help her in what way?" growled Sesshoumaru. "Give her the perfect opportunity to kill us? Should we both conveniently fall asleep so she can bash that hammer through our skulls? Should I just give her the shotgun now Rin? 'Here you go Yura. We trust you not to shoot us.' Is that what you want to do?" Sesshoumaru's voice was low and dangerous and he glared at Yura, hate clouding his normally calm eyes.

Rin cautiously slid away from Sesshoumaru. When she spoke her voice quivered. "Sesshoumaru, you're scaring me," she said tentatively.

At Rin's scared voice Sesshoumaru let out a deep breath. He felt his muscles relaxing. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and sighed. He didn't want to admit it but this situation was getting to him. It was bad enough just being on the island, possibly being stalked and hunted by his own classmates. But it grew ten times worse when suddenly a possible hunter was sitting a meager ten feet away. He kept waiting for any movement from Yura. Any sign, word, facial expression, anything he could use against her. He knew that without solid evidence of her treachery Rin would never believe she was evil. But Yura was clever. She let not a single emotion cross her face the whole time Sesshoumaru was speaking out against her. She was evil, this he knew, but to the world she appeared to be a victim.

Rin crawled back to Sesshoumaru's side. She took one of his hands between her two smaller ones. "Sess, you're exhausted. Please, get some sleep."

"I can't," he sighed.

"Sess, why don't you trust me? I'll watch Yura, I promise I will. And the moment she wakes up I'll wake you up."

_You don't understand,_ thought Sesshoumaru. _You can't wait for her to wake up. She never fell asleep. She's watching and listening to us right now._

When Sesshoumaru only stared at Yura with hate Rin gently placed one hand against his cheek and turned his head until he was facing her. "Trust me," she pleaded. "Please, get some rest. I'm worried about you Sess. If you're tired you won't be alert. I don't want anything to happen to you because you're tired."

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes. He was scared to agree with her but knew her words held truth. Being tired in this game would mean death. He steeled his nerves and opened his eyes. He tersely nodded and was rewarded with a bright smile from Rin.

Without a word Sesshoumaru reached down a picked up the shotgun that was lying beside his outstretched left leg. Bending his right leg up he leaned the shotgun against his right shoulder, the muzzle pointing up into the night sky. Wrapping his right arm around it he clenched the barrel in his hand. He laid his left arm on top of his right knee, effectively creating a barrier around the gun. If anyone tried to extract it from his grasp he would know.

"If you hear or see anything, even if you aren't sure if it really existed, wake me," ordered Sesshoumaru.

Rin nodded, happy that her friend was going to take her advice. "We'll be fine, you'll see," she soothed. "Now just sleep."

Sesshoumaru sent one more heated glare in Yura's direction then closed his eyes. Sleep overtook his mind and body a few minutes later.

Rin leaned back against a tree alongside Sesshoumaru. She tilted her head back to try and catch a glimpse of the stars through the thick foliage of the woods. Ever since she was little the stars were always able to calm her nerves. She found solace in the twinkling lights far overhead, the fact that they always shone no matter what occurred in the world. She kept her ears tuned in for any odd sounds but let her mind wonder.

Yura waited another 15 minutes before warily opening one eye. She saw Sesshoumaru with his head hanging down, completely dead to the world. Rin was daydreaming while looking into the sky. She was completely oblivious to the fact that Yura was staring directly at her.

Yura let a smirk grace her features. This had been too easy. She moved slowly inch by inch until her hammer was resting in her lap. Rin still hadn't moved. _Stupid girl._

Yura brought her legs beneath her. She rose up on one knee, planting her other foot firmly in front of her. She gripped her hammer in her right hand. Her left hand touched the ground in front of her. She looked like a feline ready to pounce on her unsuspecting prey.

Yura unknowingly licked her lips and a predatory smile lifted her lips. Her white teeth shone in the dark. She tensed her muscles. She pounced.

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My goal is to have the next chapter up before I go back to class which is the 18. Especially with how I ended this chapter. So let's all hope I can get it out before then. I look forward to your reviews (not so subtle hint ).

**Review Responses:**

**Tsuki no mizu:** Hehe, guess that isn't too bad if you felt like vomiting! I'm glad you feel bad for Kikyo, she wasn't a bad person in this story so I was hoping not too many people would cheer when she died. Thanks for the review!

**Draconic Ban-sidhea:** Haha, not just the 9th graders who don't know much about medical stuff. The sophomore in college doesn't know much either! Hehe, so you actually know people who read textbooks for fun? I don't know whether to be amused, disgusted, or frightened! As always, thanks for the review.

**Naomi-Starcloud:** Hehe, well we can all hope that someone can kill Naraku. But with how he's going who knows! And I tried to inject a bit of humor into the Miroku/Inu scene to try and lighten the mood somewhat. This story is pretty much dark from start to finish so I try to inject some humor with certain groups of people. And you're right about having to wait to see how the story turns out because I don't even know yet! (although I do know how it's going to end, just not how it's going to get there.)

**Shadow-Wolf-Jedi-Demon:** Glad you liked the Naraku/Kikyo scene. Naraku truly is just an evil bastard. Haha, don't worry, I could never make Sesshy and Rin bf/gf as that would just seem too sick to me. Hm, and is Jaken going to kill Rin? Guess you'll just have to wait and see! And did you get the map? I sent it to you but just checking to make sure you got it.

**Karmarox:** Glad you like this story! And of course I'm updating it. I'm going to keep on updating it until it's complete. I could never leave a story partially completed!

**miSS-yUnz:** glad you liked it! Thanks for the review and hope you liked this chapter as well!

**Aly:** Haha, I only slam my head into walls by accident, but it seems to happen a lot. I should learn to turn on the lights when I'm trying to traverse my house in the middle of the night. I tend to run into walls, chairs, and exercise equipment when I don't (and the exercise equipment hurts…a lot…). And definitely read Battle Royale! It's quite violent at times and it has a tad bit of sexual content, but one of the best books out there in my own humble opinion. Haha, and don't cry, I'll always update this story, I love it too much to not update it! Well, thanks for the review and hope you continue to like this story!

**Ryuu no Taiyou:** Aww, I made you cry? Here, my Sesshy plushie will cheer you up. Haha, well, you got a tad bit of Kag in this story. But Inu and Kag aren't together yet…and will be awhile before they get together as another major event is going to happen before they finally find each other. Hope you continue to like this story and thanks for the review!

**Keirra-shadowcat:** Haha, yeah, I made the scene with Kikyo a little gruesome, but it's all good, right? And yup, Miroku's pretty brave (and has a strong stomach) for being able to stitch up Inuyasha. Haha, seems you had a lot of injuries. I've only broken my finger, had appendicitis, and had a dead catfish thrown into my leg (verrrry long story…but quite funny IMO). Hehe, and my reviewers never waste my time no matter what they talk about (unless if it's a flame, then it is a waste of my time). I love hearing from you guys! Haha, and I think you're right about everyone hating Naraku. Well, thanks for the review!


	15. Emotion Overload

Oh wow guys, I'm so sorry. But I had come down with the biggest case of writers block I have ever known for this story. I seriously didn't even know who else to have it focus on besides Sess, Rin, and Yura. And I never knew this story would be so hard to write. But I suppose have multiple storylines, an actual time scale, and the story itself being dark and twisted would kind of kill me after awhile. Well, hopefully I have recovered from writers block for a little while. But sadly this chapter is a little shorter than the recent chapters have been. For that I'm sorry, but at least there's a chapter…right?

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**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 14: Emotion Overload

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**September 24, 2004; 3:00 AM**

**20 Students Remain**

The moment Yura pounced and began to bring her hammer down in the direction of Sesshoumaru's head a loud rustling in the bushes behind her prey sounded. _Fuck, _she cursed to herself, immediately dropping to the ground and hiding the hammer behind her back. She had done it not a moment too soon for Sesshoumaru's eyes snapped open.

The first thing Sesshoumaru saw upon waking was an absolutely livid Yura. Without even thinking he grabbed his shotgun from where it had been leaning against his shoulder and pointed it directly at Yura. His finger rested on the trigger and he and Yura silently challenged one another.

Rin had been daydreaming peacefully when the rustling was heard. She jumped and when she turned to Sesshoumaru she saw him with his shotgun almost thrust in Yura's face and his finger itching to pull the trigger. Yura's face was impassive, not even an ounce of fear showed. Rin rushed to Sesshoumaru and grabbed his arm.

"Sess! What are you doing?" she demanded angrily.

Sesshoumaru ignored her anger. "What does it look like? I wake up and I see her practically in my face. And I'll bet you that her intentions weren't pure."

_Time to put my acting to the test again. Let's see if I can again fool the stupid girl._ Yura let out a shaky sigh. "I'm sorry Sesshoumaru, I didn't mean to frighten you. But I heard some rustling which woke me up and I was going to wake you," she said earnestly.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes distrustfully at the girl. "So tell me Yura, how exactly did you plan on waking me up?" he remarked snidely. "By bashing my head in? Stealing my gun and shooting me? Or perhaps just strangling me with your pack's straps?"

_Fuck you Sesshoumaru_ thought Yura savagely. _Just you wait. When I finally kill you you'll see who's the better one._

Rin couldn't contain her anger and frustration at the situation any longer. "Enough!" she cried while jumping to her feet. "Will you just stop it Sess? Ever since Yura's joined us you've been nothing but hostile to her. I'm getting tired of it. Just, stop it. Stop being so damn paranoid." Rin stood between Sesshoumaru and Yura and glared down at Sesshoumaru with an anger that had never been directed at him before.

It hurt. Sesshoumaru defeatedly dropped his shotgun to the ground. He bowed his head under Rin's anger and stared at the ground. "I'm sorry Rin," he said softly.

Yura smirked. She had won. Rin had successfully protected her against Sesshoumaru. _Stupid pathetic girl. You have no idea what you've just done. But don't worry, you'll realize it soon enough._

Kneeling in front of Sesshoumaru Rin spoke softly. "I'm sorry I got so angry but you have to understand. We don't need senseless tension. This situation is horrible enough without distrusting those who should be trusted."

Sesshoumaru nodded. _You don't get it Rin. Yura is the fuckin enemy. What will it take to get you to realize that? Physically seeing her attempting to kill one of us? I'll always protect you but it's so much harder to protect from within than without._

Another, this time louder and closer, rustling was heard. Sesshoumaru jumped to his feet and pointed the shotgun in the direction the sound was heard. A moment later some bushes were parted and out walked another student.

Jaken couldn't believe his luck. He had found his idol. It was too good to be true. He dropped to his knees in relief. "Sesshoumaru!" he said in an awestruck voice. "I've found you! I can't believe I've found you! You're still alive!"

Sesshoumaru looked at the practically groveling kid in contempt. He had always been annoyed with his coach for making Jaken his own personal assistant. He couldn't understand why the coach would torture him so much. Jaken never left him alone. It was always 'Sesshoumaru! You look thirsty! Here, have some water!' or 'Sesshoumaru! You're all sweaty, here's a nice cool towel!' but the worse by far was 'Sesshoumaru! Please give me the honor of washing your uniform for you!' Sesshoumaru groaned under his breath. This was the one person he hoped to never cross paths with on this island.

Jaken stared up at Sesshoumaru, admiration clearly shown in his eyes. Then he switched his gaze to Rin and his eyes clearly darkened. _Shit, that damn brat is still alive. I would have thought Sesshoumaru would have realized by now that she is nothing but a hindrance. No matter, I will correct that problem soon enough._

"What are you doing here Jaken?" asked Sesshoumaru tightly.

"Sesshoumaru! Are you not happy to see me? I am loyal to you!"

_Damn you Coach._

Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes. "Swell," he remarked sarcastically. "Is that supposed to make me happy or something?"

Rin jabbed Sesshoumaru in the side with her elbow. She looked at him expectantly.

Sesshoumaru couldn't help the growl of frustration from sounding in his throat. "I am happy you're safe. Would you like to join us?" he asked with absolutely zero emotion in his voice. It sounded like a robot had taken over his body for a few seconds.

Jaken looked like someone had just told him he had won the lottery. "Sesshoumaru! You have made me so happy!"

Yura eyed the bumbling kid with a calculating gaze. She couldn't perceive him being much of a threat to her, or anyone for that matter. Just another enemy for her to kill. Sesshoumaru still had to be the first to go, but once he fell the other two would be easy.

Sesshoumaru didn't like it one bit. Now not only did he have to keep an eye on Yura without Rin getting mad at him he also had to put with the most annoying kid in existence. "What weapon did you get Jaken?" he asked, not really caring what the answer was. With Jaken's tendency to trip over his feet any weapon in his hands would be a bigger threat to himself than anyone around him.

"I got an axe Sesshoumaru!" said Jaken brightly, holding up said weapon with a flourish. The first thought that crossed his mind was slamming it into Rin's face.

Sesshoumaru suddenly grew interested in Jaken. It wasn't the weapon that brought about this newfound interest but rather Jaken's face. When he had held up the axe a flicker of some darker emotion crossed his face for a split second. Sesshoumaru couldn't tell if it was anger, hate, or simply a thirst for blood, but in any case he didn't like it. _Fuck it all, now I've got to keep an eye on this damn kid as well. Something's not right in his mind. Yura and Jaken, who is actually the most dangerous? Shit, this situation grew from bad to worse. This is not good._

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"Kouga, where the fuck are you leading us?" growled Hakkaku, pushing his pack's strap into a more comfortable position on his shoulder. His friend had been practically jogging ever since they left Ginta's body. And so Hakkaku had been forced to keep up. And unlike his friend Hakkaku was not a long distance runner. He knew Kouga could jog for hours and it wouldn't even bother him. It was quite unnatural how much Kouga enjoyed running.

Hakkaku on the other hand was ready to collapse. In fact, he was done. Hakkaku slowed to a stop and immediately bent over, grasping his knees with his hands. He started coughing in an attempt to catch his breath. Surprisingly Kouga heard his friend and came back to join him.

"You all right?" asked Kouga, breathing heavily. He didn't know why but he just felt like he had to run. Once he left Ginta's body he couldn't just walk, somehow it felt wrong to him. Like he wasn't trying hard enough to find Kagura. He had wanted to run but for Hakkaku's benefit he had slowed it to a job. And it looked like even that was too much for his friend.

"Fuck Kouga," gasped Hakkaku. "You really know how to wear me down." Hakkaku finally gave up his silent battle and flopped to the ground. His knees felt like jelly.

"But I was going slow for you," grinned Kouga, not able to resist the thought of teasing his friend.

"You're a fuckin lunatic," groaned Hakkaku. "Something seriously had to be wrong with you."

"Thanks man," replied Kouga. "You're an awesome friend too." Kouga held out his hand for Hakkaku. His friend looked at him like he was insane.

"No way. No fuckin way. We are not going farther tonight."

Kouga grinned. "Relax, we'll rest now so the weakling can recover his strength. But I'd much rather rest in a more secluded area."

Hakkaku looked around and realized Kouga was right. They were in a pretty open area. Reaching into his pack he pulled out his map. "Where do you think we are? F7? F8? All I know is that we've been going west and we're not in hills anymore."

Kouga crouched down and peered over his friend's shoulder. "Let's go to the doctor's office. We'll be able to rest there reasonably safe."

"Sounds good to me," said Hakkaku while pulling out his compass. He fiddled around with it for a bit before pointing off in one direction. "That way. And with luck we'll see it really soon."

Jumping to his feet Kouga nodded in agreement. Once Hakkaku had put everything away he grabbed his friend's outstretched hand and hauled him to his feet.

"Ugh, I think I could sleep for a whole fuckin day and still be tired," complained Hakkaku.

"Poor baby," said Kouga in an overly exaggerated sympathetic voice.

"Asshole," grumbled Hakkaku before trudging off in the direction he had earlier pointed. "And if you even think of running I swear I'll make it so you can never run again," threatened Hakkaku dangerously without even looking at Kouga.

Kouga chuckled and quickly caught up to his friend. They walked together side by side in silence. They were both on lookout for anything that could be perceived as dangerous but the only sounds they heard were a few crickets.

Hakkaku breathed a sigh of relief when 30 minutes later he saw a building in the distance. He unconsciously sped up and the two friends reached it ten minutes later.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to see a doctor's office," said Hakkaku while opening the door.

"Same here," agreed Kouga as he stepped into the building and looked around. He wasn't surprised to find himself in the waiting room. A few comfortable looking chairs lined the walls and a coffee table was strewn with a collection of magazines. A receptionist's desk was along the back wall with a door leading to the back room behind it. A small TV in one corner completed the standard waiting room look.

Kouga took a few steps further inside when his arm was grabbed by Hakkaku. He looked at his friend questionably.

Hakkaku pointed to the floor with his free hand. "Look," he whispered.

Kouga looked. And immediately tensed up. Dirt was imbedded in the short carpet; the outline of a footprint could plainly be seen.

"You think they're still here?" asked Hakkaku softly.

Kouga shrugged his shoulders. He gripped Ginta's butcher knife tighter and walked towards the back door, Hakkaku a few paces behind him. Each of them stood on one side of the door. At a signal from Kouga Hakkaku reached out and turned the doorknob. He pushed the door open and quickly retracted his hand.

When neither heard anything Kouga chanced a look into the room. He relaxed immediately when no one greeted him. The room was empty. But he could tell that a student had occupied it at one time.

Hakkaku entered the room and couldn't prevent the gasp from escaping his lips. Drops and smears of blood were on the floor, at some points a bloody footprint could be seen when the person had most likely unknowingly walked through the spilt blood. The chair that was in the middle of the room was where most of the blood was centered.

"Oh shit," mumbled Hakkaku as he took in the scene in front of him. "Wonder which poor classmate was killed here."

Kouga had been investigating the room but stopped when he heard Hakkaku. "You think someone was murdered here?" he asked incredulously.

"Look at all the blood. What else could it be?"

Shaking his head Kouga said, "No, when you really look at it it's not really all that much blood. Like someone was injured. Not killed though."

Hakkaku sighed in relief. "So perhaps the person escaped before the other one could finish the job."

"Why are you bent on it being bad?" asked Kouga. "To me it looks like someone was injured. A friend brought them here and bandaged them up."

"What makes you think that?"

Kouga nodded his head in the direction of the trashcan. "If someone was trying to kill the other why would they worry about wearing gloves and throwing their trash away? And there's no sign of a struggle. Wouldn't you think if two people were fighting there would be a mess in here? But there isn't. Nothing turned over, nothing on the floor. One of our classmates was injured but luckily they had a friend with them."

Kouga suddenly grew silent. Ginta had two friends with him but that didn't matter at all. Ginta died just as easily as he would have if he had died alone. He suddenly reached out and grabbed a jar of cotton balls that was sitting on the counter and flung it as hard as he could into the wall. The resounding crash almost made Hakkaku jump out of his skin. Kouga stood still, gazing emptily at the shattered glass.

Hakkaku rushed forward and grabbed Kouga's upper arm. He pulled his friend out of the room and shut the door. He pushed Kouga into a chair and stared at his friend in anger.

"What the fuck is wrong with you Kouga?" he said furiously. "You want to give away our location to every goddamn person on this island?"

"Forget it," said Kouga listlessly. "You were tired. Go to sleep."

Hakkaku growled. "What. Was. That. For," he asked through tightly clenched teeth.

"Why the fuck do I need a reason?" shouted Kouga. "Shouldn't the fact that we're here playing this fucked up game reason enough? Or how about the fact that Ginta died. How's that for your fuckin reason?" Kouga's eyes blazed with unrestrained anger. Hakkaku met the heated glare head on with one of his own.

"Quit using Ginta's murder as your excuse for doing something stupid," said Hakkaku in a low voice brimming with anger. "You don't think I keep thinking about it? I do Kouga. Just about every damn minute. But I don't throw stuff into walls."

"Shut the fuck up," said Kouga, his voice tight.

"Not until you tell me why you did it."

Kouga was up in a flash. Before he knew it Hakkaku was sprawled on the floor, his jaw throbbing from where Kouga had punched him.

"You want to know?" said Kouga angrily. "Fine. I'll tell you. Ginta was with two friends when he died. Friends didn't help him at all. This poor soul who was injured had a friend with him. It helped him this time, but how much longer will that friend be around? Who's to say if that friend isn't already dead? We're still together, but for how much longer? How long til another attack comes? How long til one of us dies and leaves the other behind? It's bound to happen. No way off this fuckin island except through death. And you know what Hakkaku? If one of us dies I sure hope to god that it's me. It had better be me who dies next. I can't stand by and watch another friend die with me helpless to do anything about it."

Kouga dropped back into his chair and buried his face in his hands.

Hakkaku stared at his friend in shock. He had never expected Kouga to say something like that. He stood up and sat in the chair beside Kouga.

"Hey man," he said softly. "Don't even think of dying on me. We're in this together to the very end. Don't do anything stupid that causes you to die. You're not the only one who'd rather die before their friends."

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Poor guys, seems Ginta's death really screwed them up. And now Sess and Rin are in the midst of two traitors. And again, I'm really sorry for taking so long to update. I'll try not to let it happen again. But then again, you guys have been with me long enough to realize that I'm probably full of shit when I say that. Hehe, writers block seems to hit me good on this story.

**Review Responses:**

**Tsuki no misu:** Hehe, yes, damn Yura. She should die. Hehe…but…will she? And yup, the girls are fine…at least for now…Hehe, I love being this one…will they die? Won't they? Will they? Won't they? Heh, well, thanks for the review, hoped this chapter was at least a little worth the wait!

**Silverbell91:** Haha, "eerily fascinating in a twisted sort of way". I like that description! Very fitting for this story. And yeah, Miroku and Inuyasha are really the main source of the little humor you can find in this story. I can't have it dark and gloomy all the time. Thanks for the review!

**Shadow-Wolf-Jedi-Demon:** Hehe, your little 'evil cliffies precious' made me think of something. Is it just me or is the Sess-Rin-Yura thing kind of like the Sam-Frodo-Gollum thing in LOTR? Rin protects Yura like Frodo protects Gollum. Sess and Sam know Yura/Gollum are traitors…yet it doesn't matter, the traitor stays. Heh, guess I truly am a LOTR freak if even stuff like that is entering my stories!

**Ryuu no Taiyo:** Sesshy plushie! I love my sesshy plushie. Haha, now Rin is in double the danger with Yura _and_ Jaken being there. Poor girl. Heheh. Will she live? Won't she? Hmm, who knows! Well, hopefully my lack of updating didn't turn you away and you still like this story!

**miSS-yUnz:** Heh, I love the Sess/Rin parts too. I just find their relationship cute (esp in the anime). Um, sorry for taking so long to update! I know, evil of me especially with how last chapter ended. Hope you'll forgive me!

**Luckykittykagome:** Don't worry about missing a chapter. You've been here for just about every other one so I can forgive you this once…just don't let it happen again…hehe. jk. And I can definitely sympathize with you on the busy and stressed part. Ugh, this semester is going to be hell and it's really just picking up now. Perhaps I'll take my stress out on this story. Perhaps there will be some rather vicious deaths coming up sometime…hehe.

**Moonglow gal:** Wait, this _could_ get ugly? Isn't it already ugly? Hehe. And hm, why haven't Mir and Inu caught up with the girls. Well, let's just say another big event is going to happen before they find them. And I can't resist giving a hint…it has to do with Naraku…hehe, worried: )

**Draconic Ban-sidhea:** Hehe, I think I was very cruel to you guys. Leave it at a cliffie and take forever to update. Sorry! Hope you'll forgive me some day. Hmm, and as for Mir and Inu meeting up with the girls…look at the review response right above yours…your answer shall be there. : ) Psh, you only scare yourself sometimes? I scare myself most of the time. And all I have to do is look at this story and wonder what possessed me to write a story like this. Hehe, but I love scaring myself. Oh wow…I just sneezed 5 times in a row…6…I've never sneezed that many times in a row. Hehe, sorry, just had to share that. I'm a very random person.

**Misguidedangel:** Haha, fluffy in a mudbath? Wouldn't that be a sight to see. But of course, that's assuming the lovely Sess survives this little game. Hmm, will he? Won't he? Well, thanks for the review, hope you liked this chapter!

**Naomi-Starcloud:** Haha, 3:45 AM? Yeah, that's kind of late/early to be reading a story. But I've done it more than once. And will do it again. Hehe, is Sango's dream a premonition? Hmm, that's a good question. One that we'll just have to wait and see! Hope this long wait didn't get you too annoyed with me!

**Keirra-Shadowcat:** Haha, don't worry about taking so long to read last chapter. As you could see from my prolonged absence you had plenty of time! Sorry for taking so long to update and hope you're still with me!

**Hart:** Hehe, oh yes, the lovely doctor chapter. That chapter was actually kind of entertaining to write (yes, I realize I'm a sick individual!) even though I had no idea what I was doing in it. And thanks for the new medical knowledge, I can always use more of that for this story. Hmm, and will Miroku die? Perhaps…perhaps not…let's just say I know how the story is going to end…but no one else will ever know until it's over. : )

**Darkdivil:** Here's your update, a little late in coming, but it's here! And thanks for saying it was great in a sick and twisted way. I love those kind of compliments in this story! Well, hope you liked this chapter!


	16. A Deadly Mistake

Surprise! I'm finally back with the next chapter. I'm really sorry for taking so long to update, I really don't have any excuses so I shall not give any. Just please find it in your heart of forgive me and continue reading. Please?

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**The Reluctant Gladiators**

Chapter 15: A Deadly Mistake

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**September 24: 5:00 AM  
20 Students Remain**

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Two young teens silently wandered through the forest around them. Their shoulders were slumped in exhaustion, or perhaps simply defeat. There had been not a trace of another student in hours now. The only sounds they heard were the chirping of crickets.

The game had been going for almost 12 hours now. And in that span of time they had not a single glance of a friendly student. Or more importantly, not a single glance of the two friends they so desperately wanted to come across.

Even though neither would voice the thought, one fear was constantly nagging in the back of their heads. Were their friends alive? Were they safe?

One teen's hand slowly clenched up. Without even realizing it, the hand began shaking. Not in anger, but in fear. Pure, unadulterateded fear. The image of a sweet girl had surfaced in his mind. In the image the girl's eyes were lifeless, her mouth open in a scream that would never be heard. Blood pooled around her head. A dagger was fully imbedded between her eyes.

Inuyasha closed his eyes tightly and stumbled to his knees. The sudden movement jarred his injured arm and he gasped in pain. Pressing his free hand against his injured shoulder he slowly began rocking back and forth. The image would not leave his mind. Kagome, sweet, beautiful Kagome, was dead.

Miroku worriedly knelt by his friend's side. Shock was plainly written in his eyes when he saw tears slowly winding their way down Inuyasha's face. Never before had he seen his friend cry. His hands move to gently remove the hand grasping the injured shoulder. He couldn't see any blood through the bandaging and sighed in relief.

"Inuyasha, what's wrong? Does your shoulder hurt?" he asked anxiously, he couldn't think of anything else that would bring Inuyasha to tears besides his shoulder.

Inuyasha continued staring at the ground. Once freed, his uninjured hand began shaking again. The image haunted him, followed him, laughed at him. "Why?" he asked shakily. "Why won't you get out of my HEAD!"

Jumping back in surprise at the angry outburst Miroku stared at his friend. Taking note of the shaking hand Miroku reached out and grasped Inuyasha's uninjured shoulder, successfully bringing his friend's attention to himself. "Inuyasha, what's wrong? What's in your head?" Miroku was once again shocked to find himself on the receiving end of the most fearful look Inuyasha had ever shown.

"Ka-Kagome," he stuttered out. "She's…dead."

Miroku's heart clenched up when he heard how much conviction was in Inuyasha's voice. It almost sounded like Inuyasha had seen it with his own eyes. But that was impossible. His friend was no psychic; the stress had to be getting to him. There was no way Inuyasha would know something like that.

When Inuyasha's eyes went back to staring at the ground Miroku gave his shoulder a firm shake. "She's not dead Inuyasha. You're just scared for her so you're thinking of the worse case scenario. But both she and Sango are alive."

Inuyasha's eyes closed in exhaustion and he slumped forward. Reacting quickly Miroku caught his friend in his arms.

His forehead resting against Miroku's shoulder Inuyasha spoke softly. "How do you know? How do you know we aren't searching for what is no longer there? The image was so real, so lifelike."

"They're strong. They won't die. You were injured Inuyasha, it only makes sense that you're now more frightened for them. That, and you're clearly exhausted. Let's rest here for a bit."

Miroku maneuvered his friend until he was leaning back against a tree. "Now rest," he demanded, not about to let Inuyasha weasel his way out of it this time.

Inuyasha struggled for a few seconds but gave up when Miroku kept him from standing back up. "We have to find…" he said, not seeming to be aware that a few moments ago he was saying Kagome was dead.

"In an hour," interrupted Miroku. "In an hour the next announcement will come. We'll prove to ourselves that Kagome and Sango are still alive. Then we'll continue our search."

Inuyasha slumped back against the tree in defeat. "Fine, you win. But in an hour we're leaving."

"Of course," answer Miroku before finding his own tree to lean against. Both friends drifted off into silence. Not a word was spoken between the two but their thoughts were surprisingly similar.

Both were completely dreading an hour from now when the announcement saying who had died in the previous six hours. They both knew that if two names were included on that list their worlds would fall apart.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Eri reached out and tentatively nudged the sleeping Ayumi's shoulder. When the girl made signs of waking Eri quickly wrung her hands together nervously.

Ayumi's eyelids lazily fluttered open. At the sight of her terrified friend she immediately shot off the bed, all signs of tiredness completely erased from her body. "What's wrong?" she hissed nervously. "Is someone out there?"

Eri stiffly shook her head. "No, we're safe."

Ayumi grabbed both of Eri's shoulders. "Then what?" she asked urgently. "Eri, what's wrong?"

"I'm scared Ayumi," answered Eri truthfully. "It's 5 AM and there has still been no trace of Yuka or Hojo. They shouldn't have taken this long!"

Releasing Eri's shoulders Ayumi reached down and grabbed one of her friend's hands. She gently tugged the girl out of the bedroom and to the front room where one of them had been keeping watch since Yuka and Hojo had left. "Eri, have you heard any explosions? Anything that might have sounded like a grenade going off?"

Eri chewed her lower lip but then shook her head.

"Then they're still alive," soothed Ayumi, turning to look out the window. "The store probably didn't have what Yuka wanted so she's having to improvise. But they're still alive."

"What if someone snuck up on them?" asked Eri fearfully. "Then they wouldn't have been able to use the grenade to warn us!"

Ayumi wrapped one arm behind Eri's shoulders, the other wrapped in front of Eri's shoulders, to embrace her friend in a comforting shield. "Eri, don't think like that. Yuka and Hojo are smart; they wouldn't let someone sneak up on them. They'll be here soon, just wait. They'll come back."

When the frightened girl relaxed slightly Ayumi let out a soft sigh. It was so hard. So hard being the strong one. Especially when the same thoughts Eri was having were rushing through her mind as well. But she had to squelch them to be strong for her friend.

Ayumi tightened her embrace around Eri while resting her head on Eri's shoulder. _Please Yuki, Hojo, come back soon. Eri and myself are not the strong ones. You two are. We need you._

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Shippo wearily continued walking. He was now in F5. He wanted nothing to more than to plop down and sleep for the next day. But he had vowed to himself he wouldn't stop until he found Kagome or death claimed him. So he had kept going even through his extreme exhaustion.

Brushing his sweaty hair away from his eyes he cursed in annoyance when the hair immediately fell back into place. "Yeah, smart one Shippo. 'Let's grow my hair out long! That would be cool!' Fucking moron," he grumbled under his breath.

He eyed the knife he was holding loosely in his other hand. He thought about chopping off his hair for a few seconds. At least that would solve the problem of constantly having to peer through a small shield of bright orange hair all the time. At the moment he was also cursing his choice of hair color.

"Yeah, another smart move idiot. Let's dye my hair bright orange! I may as well have a giant flashing sign that says "SHOOT ME!" Me and my dumbass ideas."

Shippo was so enthralled in griping about his stupid ideas he completely missed it when he stumbled into a small clearing. However, his thoughts went back to the situation at hand when a soft shriek broke through the silence of the early morning.

Shippo jumped about five feet in the air when he heard a girl shout in surprise. "Ah! Fuck!" he shouted in confusion. "I'm sorry! Please don't kill me!" He covered his eyes with his hands, all previous thoughts forgotten as he fully expected to be killed.

Kagome eyed Shippo with a wry grin on her face before she lowered the arrow she had pointed at the intruder. She had woken to Sango's surprised shout and had immediately grabbed her bow while quickly notching an arrow. When Shippo continued shaking in front of her she spoke up to ease his tension. "Shippo? We're not going to kill you. You can calm down now if you'd like."

Immediately recognizing the soothing voice Shippo lowered his hands. He stared unblinking at the girl in front of him for several long seconds. "Ka-Kagome?" he asked, almost as if he was speaking to an apparition that would vanish in an instant.

"Yeah, it's me Shippo," said Kagome with a small smile.

Before he even realized what he was doing Shippo flung the knife to the ground and rushed to Kagome, throwing his arms around her in a great, crushing hug of relief. "Oh thank god. Thank god I've found you. I've been looking for you," said Shippo, his voice full of relief.

Kagome hugged her childhood friend back then withdrew from his arms. "Looking for me?" she asked, confusion in her voice. "Why Shippo? Why would you be looking for me?"

"Yeah, why not just hole somewhere safe?" asked Sango.

Shippo rubbed the nape of his neck nervously. He was suddenly unsure of what to tell the two girls. What if they didn't trust him? What if they told him to go away? He wouldn't be able to handle it if they pushed him away. Then he truly would be dead. "I uh, was worried about you Kagome," he stammered, staring at his feet. "And I wanted to repay you for saving me." May as well go with the truth was Shippo's thoughts, especially since he was very possibly staring death in the face.

Sango looked from Kagome to Shippo, confusion plainly etched in her eyes. "What's he talking about Kag? When did you save him?" She was slightly taken aback at the sight of Kagome's eyes glistening with unshed tears. Obviously these two shared a past, but when? And what happened between them to cause Shippo to search for her best friend?

Without warning Kagome flung herself into Shippo's arms. Recovering from his slight shock he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Oh Shippo, how could you ever think you had to repay me?" asked Kagome, her voice thick with tears. "And here I thought you had forgotten about me."

"Forget? Kagome, how could I forget you? You saved me from that monster. I would never even be able to thank you enough for that. I could never forget you."

Kagome pulled herself out of Shippo's arms and proceeded to hit his chest with her small fists. "You big jerk," she sniffled. "Then how come you seemed to avoid me this year? It was like we never even knew each other!"

"I…I thought you were happy with your new friends," replied Shippo softly, now feeling foolish. "I didn't want to intrude upon your happiness."

"Um, guys?" asked Sango. "Mind filling me in on what's going on?"

Kagome grinned and grasped Shippo's hand. "Sango, I'd like you to meet Shippo. My early childhood friend. Who is a big idiot for thinking I wouldn't want to talk to him anymore."

Shippo blushed in embarrassment and smiled shyly at Sango. "Well, no one ever accused me of being a genius," he replied, earning a laugh from both of the girls.

Sango smiled at the newest addition to the group. Although she could still sense there was some deeper story between Kagome and Shippo besides just being childhood friends, but she wasn't one to pry. If they wanted to share they would. If it was something personal Sango wouldn't pest them for the story. The important thing was that she and Kagome had another ally. Quickly turning business-like Sango nodded her head towards Shippo's forgotten knife. "I'm guessing that's your weapon?"

Leaving go of Kagome's hand Shippo bent down o retrieve his knife. Twirling the handle between his fingers he sighed. "Yeah, this is what I got. Pretty worthless if you ask me. Did you guys fare any better?"

Kagome grinned mischievously. "Well, if you hadn't of covered your eyes with your hands you would have seen myself with a bow and arrow. Sango has rope and a boomerang."

Raising an eyebrow curiously Shippo glanced to Sango. "You got two weapons? Didn't think that would happen…"

Unconsciously Sango clenched one fist. "I…I was only given the rope."

"But the boomerang? Did you find it?"

Before the conversation could go any further Kagome spoke up. "It's a long story Shippo. One that's better off not being told."

Looking from Kagome to Sango, who was staring emotionlessly at the ground, Shippo understood. _Shit, if I could have found them sooner perhaps I could have prevented it. Fuck you Kazuhiko, forcing Sango to kill someone. You'll fucking rot in hell._

Shippo sent Sango a comforting smile, which she wasn't aware of. "Well, that's good enough for me," he said nonchalantly, as if he was completely unaware of what Sango had done. Not that he blamed her of course. He sensed that it would had to have been a severe situation to force either of the girls to kill someone. Setting his jaw in a firm line he looked from Kagome to Sango, protectiveness shining in his eyes. The only way they would be injured or forced to kill again would be over his dead body.

Completely unknown to Shippo was how utterly true that single thought would become.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Following about ten feet behind his friend, Hakkaku let out a tired sigh. If there was one thing you could never call Kouga that would be lazy. They had each taken an hour long nap at the doctor's office while the other had kept watch. Hakkaku had woken up barely five minutes ago and was still in the process of waking up.

Hakkaku dug the heels of his palms into his eyes, attempting to erase the tiredness from his body. It was hard deciding each person would only sleep for an hour. But they didn't want to risk the person who was keeping watch accidentally falling asleep. So they had decided that an hour was the max that either of them could force themselves to stay awake for. And even that had been hard. During his watch Hakkaku lost count of the number of times he pinched or even slapped himself to stay awake. It was with great relief when he saw his hour was up and he could wake his sleeping friend.

Letting out a jaw-cracking yawn Hakkaku realized that he was falling even farther his friend. With a barely audible groan his sped up until he was once again ten feet behind Kouga.

"Can't you find it in your heart to slow down just a little bit?" grumbled Hakkaku, adjusting his pack's strap until it rested more comfortably on his shoulder.

Kouga slowed down a minute amount in response to Hakkaku's complaint. "Sorry, when I'm tired I tend to walk faster to try and keep myself awake," he apologized, glancing over his shoulder at his exhausted friend. He also tightened his grip on his butcher knife. _And the faster we go the faster we can find that bitch and kill her._

"Freak," mumbled Hakkaku before once again the two friends drifted off into silence. A few minutes later found Hakkaku once again lagging further and further behind Kouga.

A silent 30 minutes passed in this way. Kouga leading while Hakkaku kept anywhere from 10 to 40 feet behind him. They were once again in the woods and slowly but steadily heading northwest. It was a pure guessing game for where Kagura might be headed. In fact, both friends fully realized their chances of actually finding her were slim to none. But that wouldn't stop them from searching.

Kouga abruptly stopped walking when he caught a glimpse of movement from in front of him. Peering intently through the tress he saw a skirt. A girl was ahead. A lone girl. Swiftly, yet silently, sliding his pack to the ground Kouga crouched down and brought the butcher knife up in front of him.

Hakkaku stopped rubbing his eyes and reopened them to discover Kouga looking as if he were about to attack someone. _Kagura, we've found her!_ He quickened his pace but not enough to make an excessive amount of noise.

Kouga stealthily crept closer to the female. All he could make out was her figure in the darkness of the early morning. Trying to determine if it was actually Kagura, Kouga paused for a second to see if she would move.

Once Hakkaku got within 15 feet of his friend he stopped moving. Craning his neck he was able to clearly see the girl.

Kouga waited patiently for the girl to move and reveal herself as Kagura. He didn't have to wait long.

"Ginta…" breathed the girl softly.

Kouga's eyes hardened with hate. The bitch was daring to brag about her kill!

Hakkaku watched breathless as his friend lunged at the unsuspecting girl, knife poised dangerously in the air. Then his eyes snapped back to the girl.

Red hair… 

"FUCK!" shouted Hakkaku, breaking the deathly silence of the morning. The next second he was running full speed at his friend. "KOUGA! NO!" he screamed, praying he wasn't too late.

Kouga broke through the bushes blocking him from his prey. With one solid thrust he drove the knife into her back. When he felt the warm, thick, liquid of death running down his hand his head was cleared of all rage. He smirked down at the bitch who had dared to think she would get away with Ginta's murder.

The pained and frightened eyes of Ayame stared back at him before she stumbled forward and fell to the ground, the knife still protruding from her back.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

**Rubs hands evilly together.** That was rather fun if I say so myself. An innocent stabbing, did anyone else like that? Heh, well, I should hopefully be able to get the next chapter out in 2 weeks. Mainly because I'm flying to Japan tomorrow and so will have a shitload of time to write. Be there for 2 weeks and then fly back home. So with luck end of May, early June, will see the next chapter to this.


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